Do You Think if I Had a Job I Would Have Gone?’

 

 

" On a back street in Fnideq, Mohammed Said, 36, said he had come to the coast with those headed for Ceuta. He had quit school after seventh grade and worked in construction but had not found stable employment.

By the time he reached the border, he said, chaos reigned, with cars on fire and migrants clashing with the security forces. So he had hung back.

He had tried to swim to the territory twice last year, he said, but the Moroccan authorities stopped him. This time, he had come prepared, with a can of tuna, some crackers, a phone charger, comb, two extra T-shirts and a plastic sleeve for his cellphone, all in a plastic bag.

“I’ll try again,” he said. “It’s in God’s hands.”

 read report by Ben Hubbard and Aida Alami