Mali, Westafrica, is a hub for illegal immigration from Africa to Europe.
We have come here to understand why many young men risk their lives to come to Europe and to travel with them on the routes they use.

We have met Ibrahim who in the past has tried to go to Europe by boat:

“I always heard a lot of rumours that life was different there than in Mali. Life in the States is more comfortable than life in Mali. And this television-stuff, the movies I see - I mean I had this feeling that all these things were real and I really wanted to go and se what is really happening there.”

For generations people have immigrated to Paris from Ibrahims village in western Mali. There is a high degree of organization behind immigration. It is an important source of income, because the immigrants send home money. But it’s also a problem because most young men go abroad and leave the fields and animals to be taken care of by the children, women and old people.

Just within the last two months about 300 young men have left the municipality which has 10.000 citizens.

“Most have left for Spain. Some for other places in Europe.
- Do you want to go yourself?
- Wait till the rainy season is over.
- Wait until the elders allow you. The roads are closed right now.
- You just take a boat to Madrid and that’s that.
- Afterwards one has to be ready and agree on what to do.
- I’m deadtired of building mudhuts.
- So am I. I really had to work hard this morning.
- Yeah, that’s what I mean.
- I’ve been working since six this morning.
- That’s what it’s like here. It’s a life for peasants.”

In the capitol of Bamako streets life is influenced by the immigrants here. At every streetcorner there is a Western Union Money Transfer that - at a steep price - ensures that the immigrants can send back money to the families they left behind.

“People without relatives abroad don’t live like those with people in Europe.
- When they build a house here and when you ask who is the owner they’ll say yeah it’s from this guy in Europe and all that kind of things”.

The UN estimates that the amount of money sent home every year by immigrants - legal and illegals - amount to a sum three times bigger than the total aid given to thirds world countries. There’s lots of money in the immigrationbussines - people call it to go adventuring.
However the suffering on the road turned out to be too much for Ibrahim - he has de-cided to stay in Mali.

“ It’s the same thing. And I saw that it is not worth it. To sacrifice my life on a boat going to Europe. I prefer sitting in Mali and remaining poor. That’s because it was just so terrible.”

The migration is organized by shady networks. A lot of corruption and trade in false documents is involved in this traffic. By pretending to be trying to help one of those who are going, we succeeded in getting to talk to one of those, who has made a living out of the immigrants dreams:

“Pure business. If you need a visa to Europe I can fix it. But it takes money out of your pocket.
There are two ways to do it: One where you do the proper papers, day of departure.
You want to go to Europe! What do you want to do there? What’s your profession? Even with all the papers you’ll be rejected.
Money makes all the difference. It’s that easy. It takes at least 6000 $. Even today you can be on your way for 6000$. Even today”

But obviously only a minority has got that kind of money, so they have to try in other ways - either by going through the Sahara to Libya or Algeria and from there by boat to Europe. Or by going out to the coast in Mauretania and try to get across to the Ca-nary Islands.

“It’s dangerous. Somebody wanted to go to Spain. Off the coast of Morocco they all died. It was an accident and they all died.
You have to cross the sea to get to Europe. It’s not easy. Those who don’t care about their own life choose that way. If you care about your life, you go to the airport.”

The town of Gao is the last outpost in Mali before the Sahara. This is where adven-tures from all over Westafrica gather to begin their journey through the dessert to the algerian border.
Gao is off limits. Everything here takes place behind closed doors. Middlemen find lodgings for the immigrants and organize their transport by fourwheelers or truck. It’s 45 degrees Celcius and where the houses end the tracks continue out into the big threatening emptiness of the Sahara.
Local police make a good living by turning a blind eye to the immigration.
By bribing a middleman we have succeeded in getting transport 750 kilometers to the algerian border. We have brought water, canned food and turbans and squeezed our-selves onto the back of a fourwheeler. 12 men, one woman, one driver, luggage, wa-ter and petrol.
There is not much info - we just know that we are going on a long trip and that we have paid money to people we don’t know, people who now have our lives in their hands.

“Can you explain a bit about the journey?
- Then I’ve better speak french. We are on the way to the border. It’s called Ha-lal. It’s 750 kilometers from Gao. We are all travelers, we don’t know what is going to happen to us. One has to take it like a man. We are trying to get to the border. We are ready for the challenges that await us.
- But we also know that not everybody succeeds. They return.
“I was in Algeria and saw this and that (they say). I saw how difficult it is. I was beaten and abused”.
But that doesn’t frighten us.

“If I get to Italy in 2006 I’ll marry a white woman. A white one.
Eat, eat, eat!”

A moment later we get the first shock. In the middle of the track a couple of police-men appear with weapons glistening in the sun. The cameras have been hidden and for some reason they don’t search our luggage. Instead they pull the immigrants away, behind some bushes.

“Can you explain what just happened?
- Yes, here in Mali the police are not always so nice to immigrants. They know that to go out, you have to have a certain economy. So if you meet them on the way .... take care!
- They have been informed that a car with immigrants has just left the town. That’s why they were waiting for us. They demanded 65 $.
- “I don’t have those 65 $. People don’t have those 65 $.
- What do you do then? They tried to negotiate. They tried to negotiate the price down - even though he pulled out his stick and began beating people. You saw that yourself. Just ask anybody sitting here! They yelled at people: Show your passport, show your passport. They treat us like slaves. We couldn’t defend ourselves ‘cause they were armed. They told us to lie down and stay quiet. If you pay 65 $ they leave you alone, if not - you go back to Gao. Then you’ve lost everything and have to try all over again.”

“This is suicide. They are all middlemen.
- They are with the police. Afterwards they share the loot. They are bastards. Without the adventurers they wouldn’t be able to make a living.
- - Lets not talk about it.
- - God protect us.

At dusk the drivers stop. It’s the second time in a few minutes and the immigrants can’t understand why we don’t move on.

“Why are they taking a break again?
- I’ll go over and ask them.
- - When are we moving again.
- - It’s just not all right.
- - When are we going again?
- - He does nothing. The journey wears people down. Does he think we have unlimited time?”

Now the drivers want extra money from the immigrants. They say that there are more police blocks further ahead and that they have to make a detour. Otherwise they’ll leave us here. They say the closest village is 20 kilometers away.

After three days we arrive at our destination - a small dessert village 20 kilometers from the border - but now some of the immigrants have run out of money.

“Is he going to stay?
- He is not crossing the border.
- - Doesn’t he have money for the trip?
- - No.
- - Aren’t you going?
- - No, I have to stay here.
- - It’s not easy, is it?
- - I’m desperate. I don’t know what I’m going to do here.
- - You have to stay here.
- - Are you leaving?
- - Yes, he is going.
- - So this one is just going to stay?
- - Stay cool.

- Is the car ready to leave?

- - Yes, but he is not coming with us.


We are in a lawless spot, in the middle of the dessert. We are not welcome here, many shady transactions take place here. Day by day the situation gets more tense. We know that there is a reward for the one that leads the police to our equipment and we know that many here need money to move on.

“We are in the dessert. Here you can’t even get water without paying. I don’t have a dime. I’m really suffering here. How am I to find work so I can make money and get food? Where can I work?”

It’s become to dangerous for us to stay and we decide to leave the village.
Noadhibo in Mauretania is one of the big points of embarkation for immigrants trying to cross the Atlantic and get to the Canary Islands. They travel in small fishing vessels and the journey takes seven days.
As in Gao and at the algerian border we again encounter an industry of middlemen and corrupt policemen. Because of the recent flood of immigrants to the Canary island there is a massive international presence in Noadhibo. Spanish and french police and several international organisations are in place. Not least the Red Crescent which is in charge of a camp the police has organized on the outskirts of town. Here 2-300 closely guarded young men await deportation to their homelands.
Frustrated people who have gambled everything to fulfil their dream of getting to Europe.

“Is the trip hard?
- The trip is really hard.
- - We have paid lots of money. I’ve lost a lot of money.
- - I must go to Senegal but I want to go to Spain.
- - In Senegal I can’t even support my children.
- - Let us go there. We have no choice. We can’t just be idle.
- - It’s a question of life or death.”

After a couple of days we succeed in meeting two adventurers. One is waiting for a boat, the other has returned after a failed attempt. Many here try 3-4 times to get across but one of our two friends has had enough.

“When we left we were 38 people.
- We didn’t realize that something was wrong with the motor until we were off the coast of Moroco. They had put water in our petrol cans. Nobody had imag-ined that they would put water in the cans. There were two possible scenarios: Either another boat would turn up or everybody would die.
- - While we were sitting there hoping, we saw another boat far away. We took off our shirts to signal them. The boat approached. When they reached us, they rammed our boat. Our boat broke in two and we fell into the water. When such a thing happens, even if they are your siblings, you save yourself.
- - Do you follow me? 20 people perished.”

Somewhere in this town a man is on the loose, a man responsible for the death of 20 people for the price of between 50 and 100 $. No consequences. He will never be pun-ished.
The other guy next to us still wants to go. It’s not the first time he’s heard stories like this and nothing seems to able to change his mind.

“I’m ready to go. I’ve paid a bit but I still need to pay some more.
- I don’t have anybody to help me. Somebody who is rich. “

He is not one of a kind and now I am beginning to understand them. Our troubles can’t be compared with the immigrants but they have left an almost physical impres-sion of what it is like to have to gather strength for the next step over and over again.
If you can only do the next little step, you are one step closer to the goal. But at the same time it gets more and more difficult to turn back. Every time you conquer some-thing in yourself that leaves you more determined and that makes the thought of fail-ure more difficult.
There is always just one more tribulation before you get out on the other side.

“It’s not easy to get to Europe. It’s a long way by foot”.

“I’ll continue. I have to because of the family.
- To me it’s Europe or death.
- - All the time you have to hide from the police. All the time you have to carry your passport with you. All the time you have to put money, if somebody catches you, you have to pay. When you are going to look for money some-where, you have to be free.
- - I came here to go adventuring. I’m on my way to Europe. There is money there.