Morocco, September 2007
Mohamed at a barber. Southern Morocco.
Morocco, August, 2008
Mohamed, a young and unemployed Moroccan looks at the sea in southern Morocco.
Morocco, September 2007
Playing pool on a summer evening, southern Morocco
Morocco, Sidi Ifni, Oct. 13 2007
Mohamed walks back from the port in Sidi Ifni after his first attempt failed. The traffickers didn't have a boat and stole his money.
Morocco, April 4, 2008
Young Moroccans pushing a plastic boat into the Atlantic Ocean to try to sail illegally to Spain's Canary islands. The boat sunk after a few waves, around 2am in the morning.
Morocco, August 25, 2007
Mohamed sleeps in the afternoon in a house of a friend in southern Morocco. He is trying to make contact with smugglers for his first attempt to try to illegally sail to Europe. He would eventually succeed to reach Spain by boat on his 3rd attempt one year from now.
Morocco, August 28, 2008
Mohamed and a friend listen to music in a bus, southern Morocco
Morocco, Sept. 21, 2007
Mohamed in an Hamam, southern Morocco
Morocco, Mirleft, August 15 2008
Mohamed killing time playing soccer on a beach in South Morocco while waiting to hear from traffickers.
Morroco, Tiznit, Oct. 14 2007
Mohamed and Ahmed in a restaurant, they suspect that the traffickers they gave money to stole it.
Morocco, Tiznit, Sept. 2008
Mohamed and Ahmed try to reach a smuggler by phone.
Morocco, Sidi Ifni, October 13, 2007
Mohamed travels early morning with other migrants in the back of a minivan away from the port of the coastal town Sidi Ifni after their attempt to get into a boat heading for Europe failed in the night.
Morocco, September 6 2008
Migrants push a makeshift boat onto a Land Rover to drive through the desert to the Atlantic Ocean and try to sail illegally to Spain's Canary Islands.
Morocco, September 6, 2008
Preparing the boat on a beach and waiting for the right current to sail the Atlantic Ocean to Spain's Canary Islands.
Atlantic Ocean, September 7 2008
Mohamed sails illegally to Spain's Canary Islands in a makeshift boat, the blue paint is still wet.
Atlantic Ocean, September 6, 2008
The trip over the Atlantic Ocean will take more then 34 hours.
Atlantic Ocean, September 7, 2008
Atlantic Ocean, Sept. 6, 2008
September 2008
Atlantic Ocean, September 7, 2008
Migrants sail illegally to Spain's Canary Islands. seen on the horizon.
Atlantic Ocean, Sept. 7 2008
Migrants try to reach Spain's Canary Islands.
Atlantic Ocean, September 7, 2008
Mohamed after more then one day at sea
Spain, Lanzarote, Sept. 7 2008
Migrants arrive on Spain's Canary Islands after sailing the Atlantic Ocean for more then 34 hours.
Spain, September 7 2008
They arrive on a small island, La Graciosa, north of Lanzarote and are all arrested within one hour.
Spain, Fuerteventura, Oct. 10 2008
Mohamed calls home after he has just been released from prison on the Canary Islands.
Tenerife, October 13, 2008
The Spanish authorities couldn't determine his origin and let him after one month out of prison.
Gran Canaria, February 3, 2009
24-year old Mohamed in the room of a shelter where he is staying while he is applying for asylum. He later had to leave the place after his asylum request got denied after which he traveled to mainland Europe.
Spain, December 30, 2009
Mohamed waits in line for food aid distribution at a church.
Spain, Gran Canaria, Feb. 2009
Mohamed in the house of a friend
Spain, January 1, 2010
Mohamed, a 25-year old Moroccan, in a room he shares with Mounir who came to Europe by hiding in a truck.
Spain, December 26, 2009
Mohamed at night in a Bolivian nightclub in northern Spain with Moroccan friends.
Spain, Gran Canaria, February 2009
Mohamed
Spain, Vecindario, February 1, 2009
Mohamed on a terrace close to the shelter where he is staying while he is applying for asylum.
Entering Europe (2007-2010)
Mohamed, well-educated and born near the border with the Western Sahara, an area largely controlled by Morocco, decides to leave behind everything he knows for the perilous journey to Europe.
He soon encounters human traffickers who promise to smuggle him to the Canary Islands. On his first attempt, the smugglers take his money and leave him in suspense for months, only to disappear. His second attempt ends in disaster when the boat quickly sinks.
On his third try, Mohamed boards a makeshift boat for a 34-hour crossing. The boat, newly painted, is overcrowded and filled with seasick passengers. After surviving the journey, he and the others are arrested by the police on the small island of La Graciosa, just hours after arrival. Despite spending time in prison, Mohamed eventually manages to make his way to mainland Europe.
