by
Megan Lloyd

Recorded:
28 November 2022

Published:
17 February 2023

Meet Mohammed.

29 years old and from Ghana.

To reach Europe, he crossed at least six countries: Ghana, Togo, Benin, Algeria, and Morocco. In between Benin and Algeria there are a few routes he could have taken, but he does not remember which.*

His journey took over four years.

He left Ghana in the back of a truck that his friend was driving. The truck was filled with beans and cassava. He arrived in Togo and spent 1-2 days there before departing by car to Benin. He was the car’s only passenger.

He spent 2-3 days in Benin and paid a fee to some outside people who assisted in his crossing, Ghanaians, who would bring him to Algeria. They drove in a small car.

Once in Algeria, Mohammed stopped in the city of Tamanrasset. There, he worked a variety of jobs, from selling sodas and magazines, to masonry work, and even as a house painter and mover. He made many friends in Algeria. They knew a lot about the area and were able to help him find a place to sleep.

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Mohammed spent four years in the country, working to accumulate enough money to cross into Morocco. After those four years he was finally able to take the journey. He paid someone to take him and a number of others, many of whom were Algerian women and men, in a 12-passenger van across the border.

He arrived in Morocco and looked for work, but because he is Black it was difficult to find it. “In Morocco, they don’t want to pay Black people to work,” Mohammed said.

He stayed in Morocco for one year and then took a small boat from the coastal city of Lyon**. Men and women were on the boat, but he couldn’t say how many. He was praying out loud. “It is very, very dangerous,” Mohammed said.

He spent two days onboard before landing on Lanzarote in the Canary Islands, Spain. From there he went to the island of Tenerife where he was put on a plane to the Spanish mainland. He landed in Cádiz, Spain and then continued to Seville by car.

He is about 34 years old now and lives in Seville, Spain, where we recorded this story on 28 November 2022.

Mohammed is an amazing human being.

*Possible routes between Benin and Algeria include: from Benin to Burkina Faso, Mali and into Algeria; or from Benin to Niger, Mali then Algeria; or, what seems most likely because it is the most direct route, from Benin to Niger (through Niamey, then the capital city Agadez) before crossing the Algerian border to the first city he stayed in in the country, Tamanrasset.

**City name and spelling written as spoken during the interview phonetically; we have been unable to verify it on a map.