Haraga
Photostory from Tangier, Morocco. Photos and text by
Jan Sochor


Every day tens of Moroccan young man try to illegally cross the Strait of Gibraltar. "Haraga" (immigrants in Arabic) come to Tangier from all over Morocco. They hope for good luck and, hidden between the wheels of a truck, they attempt to board a ferry and get to Spain, eventually further into all corners of Europe.

Each haraga has his own trick and hopes that he will be the one who will manage to escape one day. They observe the traffic of the trucks; they know when the security shifts change; they know when, how and what is embarked; they watch the weather changes, rain, fog and know about its impact on the port traffic. They look for a chink to slip away through. Some of the haraga swim in the dark morning hours with a rope ladder and hook up to boats and try to get on board this risky way.

Considering the thorough checks at the port only few of them make it. As soon as the omnipresent patrolling police notices a bigger number of young men, they immediately ask for documents. Most of the haraga are from different regions, therefore they might get arrested and deported only because of a non permitted stay in Tangier. Sometimes the police release them for a bribe of a few euros, sometimes they beat them cruelly, and sometimes they arrest and turn them over to the court.

Haraga themselves say that of every ten men caught there is one who gets away successfully. After that his friends write his fake name in paint on the wall of the port (haraga use fake names among themselves so as to confuse the police).

Every one of them claims that because of a bad economic situation of Morocco they cannot afford to have and maintain a family, which is the reason for their escape. On the contrary, ordinary Moroccans, for whom haraga often are a source of contempt, say that haraga do not want to work, that they only long for European abundance and money without work.

Haraga spend months living on a beach and in huts along the walls of the port. Some of them beg for food, and those who had succeeded once, had been to Europe and because of that speak Spanish, sell hashish to foreigners. All of them hang around waiting for the right night to make their dream of Europe came true.