Wide shot of town of Tarifa

Music

00:00

Williams: Clinging to the southern tip of Spain, the town of Tarifa has seen waves of invasions for centuries…

00:13

Streets of Tarifa

…by the moors from Africa and the Christians who expelled them. The walls of the castle witness to many bloody battles for control.

00:21

Williams at castle

But they're no barrier against the modern invaders from the south

00:35

Guitar

Inside house

Williams: This was supposed to be the good life in Spain -- work, money, cars. Instead, they live like dogs, and are treated no better. Many would leave if only they could.

00:47

Young men outside house

Man: It’s bad, very bad … Why? Because now there is no work, you know, and you have to make your living and there’s no work

Man 2: Problem with papers, problem with papers, if you have papers you have a job. If you have no papers, nothing.

01:03

Wind farm

Music

01:24

Williams: Up until recently, Tarifa was a place famous for two reasons -- both blown in with the wind like the immigrants. The gigantic blades that harvest it for electricity, and the world class wind surfing that harvests tourists.

01:30

Wind surfing

But increasingly it's also becoming notorious for something you won't find in the tourist brochures -- the bodies that regularly wash up on its beaches; the bloated refuse of a trade in desperation.

01:47

Corpse on beach

Officially, a corpse is recovered here every week. Boats swamped by waves, or run down by ships. But the strong currents wash most out into the Atlantic -- hundreds a year by some estimates, all dying to get to Europe.

02:00

Adolpho Serrano

Adolpho: We haven’t got an exact number of those who could have perished in an accident. We only intervene when we know an accident has happened. In many cases these boats haven’t got any communication system … we didn’t know they were going through the strait.

02:17

Maritime Safety Agency

Williams: The narrow Straits of Gibraltar, between Spain and Morocco, are amongst the busiest shipping lanes in the world. Drug and cigarette smugglers have long plied these waters.

02:51

Refugees in boat

But a few years ago the Mafia gangs operating in both countries, discovered a more valuable commodity. Packed into boats designed for six or eight people, up to 60 hopefuls pay up to $5,000 each for the dash to Tarifa. Not everyone gets through. Spanish guardia civil and navy boats do pick up some on the water, but it's a net full of holes.

03:05

Maite

Maite: Almost 100% of people who attempt the crossing make it to Tarifa. What I can say too, os that 95% are arrested by the guardia civil.

03:27

Water police

Williams: It's an arrest rate most regard as highly optimistic, but this morning at least, police think they've got everyone.

03:49

Refugees on boat

One man tells me it's his first attempt, but for some it's their fourth.

04:00

Another shows the burns he suffered when the boat's petrol mixes with sea water. It's so common no one takes much interest.

Spanish fishermen

Passing Spanish fishermen yell obscenities. All will be extradited home to Morocco tomorrow. But many will be back, just as soon as they can pay the gangs for the another crack at fortress Europe.

04:19

Red Cross workers

Often, the first contact is with Red Cross workers like Carlos Jimenez.

04:39

Carlos in boat

Carlos: Look, another disembarking point on this beach – and the reason is that there’s a petrol station which they can see from the ocean, because at night it’s lit up, and they use it as a reference point.

04:44

Williams: The Red Cross patrols up and down the Tarifa beach reveal a stark contrast. Here, western affluence at its peak, a place people pay to come to stop working.

05:02

Tourists on beach

Yet it's also the prime destination for the Africans who pay for the chance just to work.

05:15

The daily cycle of rescuing illegals from leaky boats and recovering bodies has become depressingly routine. The survivors burdened by unrealistic hopes.

05:25

Carlos in boat

Carlos: They know they’re in Europe, and they think this is heaven – that everything here is good and they are going to find jobs immediately – but the truth is not like that.

05:35

Williams and Carlos

Williams: Ask him about the people behind the trade -- the Mafia -- and Carlos goes quiet. Like many here, he's afraid to talk about these people and their profits.

05:52

The war against the Mafia and their human cargoes, appears to be one-sided.

06:06

Guardia civil patrol with Moroccans

Guardia: What are you doing here? Do you understand me? What are you doing here? What’s that?

Man: Food.

Guardia: Where have you come from?… Where have you come from?

Man: I have found a job.

Williams: The guardia civil patrol has no doubt these two Moroccans are part of the Mafia, waiting behind the Tarifa beach to pick up illegals and take them north.

06:36

Guardia: Do you have a passport?

Williams: But while they offer no explanation as to why they're there, they do have papers. A search in the nearby scrub reveals nothing. So, frustratingly, the police must let them go.

06:49

Guardia civil patrol

Williams: Do you think they are part of the mafia?

Guardia: yes, of course.

07:04

Williams: The rugged terrain behind the beaches provides the perfect cover for the boat people who remain hidden until it's safe to make contact with the gangs.

07:10

There's no doubt the guardia civil patrols take their job seriously, but they're spread thinly in such difficult country, it's a wonder they catch anyone.

They show me the cliff immigrants have died trying to scale at night.

07:35

Williams: That is bad, yeah. I can see clothes down there.

07:43

Williams: In the dark, many simply don't see the easier way, past the wreckage of earlier landings. The evidence strewn along the rock ledge here is proof this grand central for illegal arrivals.

07:49

Williams: Hashish?

Guardia: Hashish, and dry clothes –

Guardia2: Dry clothes… so when they arrive they can change pout of their wet clothes.

08:08

Williams: Despite the evidence of repeated landings, if there is a serious attempt to stop them on the beaches, it's certainly not obvious.

08:19

Boat in ocean

Music

08:29

Williams: It's not hard to find them, it's just a matter of waiting, for light winds and calmer seas.

08:33

From deserted beaches in Morocco, at least three boats set out overnight. In the early light, they're difficult to spot, but a surveillance helicopter has found its mark.

08:42

Red cross and Guardia on beach

Word is spreading, they're on their way, but so far no police. Further down the beach the Red Cross is racing into position. Just short of safety, the engine has failed. The waves are starting to swamp the inflatable. Petrol is mixing with seawater, burning skin like acid.

08:57

Refugees on beach

Most here can't swim. They're afraid to leave the boat.

09:24

We will discover later a tragedy is unfolding here, but no one notices. They've paid dearly for this chance and they're not stopping for anyone.

The man driving the boat is nabbed first by an undercover policeman, who shouts he doesn't want his face shown. For those left behind too sick to run with the pack, their dreams have ended here. A poor family's last savings may have been lost paying for this single crossing.

10:02

For this man, the lasting legacy will be the scars from the petrol burns from the swamped fuel tanks.

10:27

Refugee: It’s hard for me to get up… What do you want with me?

Williams: As they are loaded into the truck, they're leaving one behind. No one checks the boat until it is too late. Inside they find a man barely alive with terrible petrol burns, who's been trampled in the rush to the beach. Moments later he dies. The 27^th victim on these beaches this year, and the crossing season just begun.

10:43

Refugees held captive

Williams: It's been a busy day -- another two boatloads caught further down the beach. 167 people held.

11:11

Black Africans

African: I love this place – that’s why I come here. There is war in our place. We are suffering there now. So I want to live in Spain. That’s why I came to Spain.

African2: How I found myself here, I couldn’t define it.

11:29

Williams: The black Africans don't run; they barely need guarding. Unlike the Moroccans, there's no extradition treaty, with the exception of Nigeria. So once they land, they're practically home. Though these people who say they're from Sierra Leone seem a little confused exactly where they've just landed.

11:38

Williams: Did you know you are in Spain?

African3: You mean I’m in Spain now?

Williams: Yes.

African3: So we are in Spain.

African4: I thought this place was America.

Williams: America? You thought you were in America?

African4: Yeah, I thought this place was America.

Williams: No, this is Spain.

African5: Spain?

Williams: Yeah, you’re in Spain now.

African5: I don’t know. I am here for the first time. I was talking to you just now you were talking about Australia

12:18

Williams: Did you think you might be in Australia?

African5: That was our thoughts. I told my colleagues maybe this is Australia

Williams: No one would tell me how they got here, who they paid, or how much. It's not something anyone wants to talk about.

12:38

Red Cross reception centre

Later, at the Red Cross reception centre, they're given new clothes, and fed. Workers here tell me they fear most of the women will end up in prostitution.

12:49

Another boatload is arriving, but these people are different. They too claim to be poor refugees fleeing the war in Sierra Leone.

13:03

But it's suspected they're all from Nigeria, and part of an organised racquet. But there's no proof. Some begin unwrapping their mobile phones from the waterproof tape, Spanish SIM cards already installed.

13:13

In a couple of days, all will be dumped on the streets with no money, no passport, and no rights, and ordered to leave the country within 40 days.

13:29

None can, and none do. It's all part of the game.

13:38

Music

13:45

Almeria farms

Williams: This is where many will end up -- Almeria -- five hours drive from Tarifa along the Mediterranean coast. Like a gigantic Christo sculpture, 30,000 hectares have been covered by plastic hothouses to grow out of season vegetables for northern Europe in the winter. And guess who does all the work during the growing season?

13:54

Tens of thousand of illegals are recruited by farmers who know they're breaking the law, but no one cares. The entire industry is built on their backs.

14:21

Hamid and his fellow Moroccans haven't had any work since May, and the growing season doesn't resume until September. With no papers, they're not entitled to any government help.

14:32

Hamid: How do you survive then if you have no job and no money?

Man: In Morocco, the money … Morocco sent to us, they send us money here … the family, the money .

Hamid: Do they send you money here from Morocco?

Man: Yes … Yes.

Hamid: but I thought you sent money to your families?

Man; But there is no work. What are we going to send? … What are we going to send? We have no money to eat – how can we send money to Morocco?

15:05

Inside farmhouse

Williams: This is not how they thought life would be here, and yet they are considered lucky. Their employer provides basic housing, but he now doesn't need them. He's already cut off the water and is building a gate to lock them out.

15:21

Man: Well, this is the kitchen where we eat, you know – you come from work and you make the meal. You eat it and that’s it…. But no … very bad conditions.

15:37

Williams: But there's much worse. The third world is alive and well and happily being exploited in Spain. The competitive edge of the massive greenhouse industry built on the sweat of these illegal workers -- up to 40,000 of them. With no right, low wages, and hostility from some locals.

15:51

Hamid: Is there racism here?

Man: Yes … a lot … a lot.

16:12

Maite

Maite: Yes of course they are arrested. We not only arrest them here but everywhere in Spain. The Guardia civil enforces the law and Guardia civil is the same here in Cuenca, in Almeria, in Soria and if we know and we can prove it the Guardia civil will intervene.

16:20

Guardia civil

Williams: But as we were to discover, the fear of arrest is about to become a non-issue for the majority of illegals.

16:48

the Straits of Gibraltar

A thirty minute ferry ride across the Straits of Gibraltar is the tiny Spanish enclave of Ceuta -- the last vestige of colonialism clinging to Africa.

16:56

Ceuta refugee camp

In this well built refugee camp, the biggest hurdle is not lack of food or exploitation, but boredom.

The bills here are paid not by Spain, but by the European Union. For this is a European problem that's set to get much, much worse.

17:19

Moro

Moro: In fact experts in Migratory movements estimate that twenty million Africans from these troubled countries have started moving, trying to get to Europe.

17:30

Surveillance video: Boat in ocean

Super:

Imagen Guardia Civil y SVA

Williams: With statistics like that, little wonder the European Union is willing to pay out $300 million for a brand new radar and infra red system that will create an electronic wall along the southern Spanish coast by 2004.

17:48

The government's changing too. In a shock move, we're amongst the first to be told of a dramatic change of policy.

18:04

Moro

Moro: We are going to open up a new legislation process for those for those immigrants who can show they have been in Spain before the 23^rd of January this year.

18:12

Ceuta refugee camp

Williams: The Spanish government says 70,000 illegals will legitimised, given papers and the human and legal rights that go with them, if they can prove they've been here long enough. For those that can, it's a revolution.

18:26

But it will also encourage more to come, hoping for similar treatment in the future.

18:42

Refugees on beach

And that means more desperate runs across the Straits of Gibraltar. And a rising toll of those whose dreams end on Tarifa sands.

18:49

Credits:

Spain Illegals

Reporter: Philip Williams

Camera: John Benes

Sound: Mark Douglas

Editor: Mark Douglas

Research: Sharon Roobol

19:06