After reading “The Crossing” I was immediately curious about life after a ‘successful’ crossing and what exactly happened to those who were lucky enough to survive. The follow-up article gave insight into what became of the boys and men who made it across the fence but also raised many more questions about Morocco-Spain border and immigration into the EU. The many attempts to even get into contact with Bambino and the relatively random success eventually revealed the large amount of subjectivity involved at this border. It appears you have to catch the right person at the right time and say the right phrase for even one thing to go according to the law or in your favor. This subjectivity at the start left me wondering what laws are actually in place and what kind of supervision if any occurs there. For such serious situations, fatal ones, it seems all too casual that so many things be so dependent on any one individual rather than a set of standards or laws. For the guards at the border, Melilla, and other detention centers how much of their actions are instructed and how much is learned behavior adopted from what they believe is expected of them? Or, are they acting on their own personal vendettas or racism? No matter how few international laws there are in place at these borders, both ‘sides’ are breaking some. It is the sheer disregard for human life and human rights at these borders that shocked me the most. I

No matter how few international laws there are in place at these borders, both ‘sides’ are breaking some. It is the sheer disregard for human life and human rights at these borders that shocked me the most. Though the racism and racial hierarchy surprised me as well within North Africa and Moroccan detention centers, they parallel the ones within the US and along the US-Mexico border. However, something that I do wonder is how aware Moroccan citizens are of the situation at the border and enclaves and the conflicts that occur there daily.