RADAR

THE YOUNGEST MIGRANT WHO HAS SET AN EXAMPLE

Mohamed fled his home in Morocco, at the age of nine, seeking a future in Europe. After passing through various centres, a community of nuns welcomed him and gave stability to his life. His journey ended up being a story of success.

BY FELIPE HERRERA-ESPALIAT | CADIZ, SPAIN

IN THE narrow streets of central Cadiz, Spain, there is a face that is becoming increasingly familiar. Mohamed El Harrak, a young social worker of the Centro Tierra de Todos Foundation who knows well, through his personal experience, the sufferings of migration.

Mohamed’s father ended up in prison, leaving Mohamed (9), his mother, and his three older brothers in a state of abandonment in Ketama, a rural and poverty-stricken area in northern Morocco. Mohamed had heard that the port of Tangier was not far away and that from there, one could reach Spain, seen as a promised land where many Moroccans managed to build a future.

Mohamed did not hesitate. He ran away from home, and travelled 220 kilometres to reach Tangier. After wandering its streets for weeks, and countless failed attempts, he took advantage of a red traffic light to climb onto a truck and hide in the spare wheel compartment. A few hours later, the vehicle embarked on a ship, and arrived at the Spanish port of Algeciras, where the police immediately discovered the little stowaway.

“It was a case that caused a scandal, because it was new that such a small child should arrive in the way I had. For several days I went from one police station to another before being placed in a reception centre called El Cobre,” recalls Mohamed. From that moment, he began a journey that, over the course of two years, took him to six different protection homes in various cities of the Spanish region of Andalusia. According to official records, he is in fact the youngest unaccompanied minor to have arrived in Spain as a migrant without documents.

The Longed-for Stability

Being so young, he admits, he had no selfcontrol and tended to flee the residences because he could not adapt to life anywhere. Only when he arrived at the reception centre for minors, Divina Infantita in Cadiz, run by the Servants of the Immaculate Child, did he find the longed-for stability. He was about to turn 12. There, he was welcomed by five nuns who, together with an interdisciplinary team of professionals, offered him appropriate support and managed to enroll him in a Salesian school, where a new world opened up for him, characterized most especially by the welcome from his classmates and their families.

“My goal was to reach their same linguistic, cultural, and academic level and to follow their habits. I told myself: since I am here, I must integrate. I woke up and fell asleep in the library,” says the young man, who made study and soccer his daily routine.

Mohamed was thus able to complete his school education and obtained a diploma in assistance to people in situations of dependency, and another in socio-cultural and tourist animation. But that was not enough. Thanks to a scholarship, he obtained a degree in social work from the University of Cadiz, studying while working forty hours a week. This allowed him to support himself and not lose the residence permit granted to him by the Spanish Government, because he was now of age and had to take responsibility for himself as a migrant.

The Most Beautiful Moment

Mohamed was 20 years old when he returned to Morocco for the first time to visit his family. His parents, in the meantime, had added two more children to the family. “It was the most emotional and beautiful moment of my life. I had never seen my younger siblings, and I went to pick them up from school,” says Mohamed.

He returned to Spain to continue working in social services. Today, he is pursuing a master’s degree in Mediation while working for the Centro Tierra de Todos Foundation, a Diocesan organization dedicated to the reception and promotion of migrants. Mohamed plays a fundamental role in the guidance of those who arrive in Cadiz from Africa. “My goal has always been to be an example for them. I tell them to stay calm, to be patient, to be responsible, because everything is achieved if you follow the right path.”

The director of the Migration Secretariat of this Diocese, Scalabrinian missionary Sante Zanetti, knows Mohamed’s story, as well as those of thousands of migrants he has met in Europe and America during his religious life. “It is about uniting abilities, values, and projects to create that new humanity whose path is indicated to us by Jesus Christ. This union of forces, projects, and faith helps us build a better, more fraternal, and more humane world,” says the priest.

The child who fled Morocco is now 25 years old, and five months ago he obtained Spanish nationality. His colleagues appreciate Mohamed’s achievement because, in their opinion, he makes a great contribution to the country.

Source: vaticannews.va