Patera 4: 25 men arrive on August 12

Read about it online: http://www.europapress.es/nacional/noticia-rescatada-patera-25-inmigrantes-almeria-20100812111326.html

Super Patera with 450 people arrives in Canada

The oceans on the east and west coasts of Canada have traditionally discouraged illegal immigrantion by sea. But just as the Patera IPP was coming to an end in Almeria on Aug. 13, a super patera arrived on the west coast of Canada from across the Pacific Ocean with more than 450 people onboard. Newspapers reported that the Tamil's on board the ocean-going ship - the MV Sun Sea - paid as much as $50,000 Canadian for a place on the ship. Everyone on board the ship claimed refugee status on arriving in Canada - which allows them a legal investigation and hearing, which can take years. While they wait for a decision on their refugee status the people get social benefits.

The First Patera

On Thursday the 5th of august at 3am, a patera carrying 12 Algerian immigrants was on its way to the spanish coast. "Salvamento Maritimo" spotted the patera and informed the red cross who then called our IPP staff. Maria, Mayssam and Luis being the first 3 people on the Pateran list had to be the red cross volunteers for that night.
The immigrants arrived in a boat that belonged to the "Salvamento Maritimo" because their patera was completly destroeyd in the sea. A policeman was checking the immigrants as they left the boat and another escorted them to a big room where they would be checked and interrogated.
Most of the immigrants were shivering and they had torn, wet clothes.We gave them blankets and new clothes and they were asked to change.
Abdallah, An Algerian red cross volunteer was talking to the immigrants to obtain the necessary data about each one of them. The healthy immigrants were given a green bracelet and the sick ones red bracelets.
Once Abdallah was done with his examination, we were asked to give food to the persons with green bracelets. We gave them 2 cupcakes, juice, coffee and water.
After all the immigrants were preperly dressed and fed, the police took charge and we had to leave. It was an unforgettable experience to help people who have risked their lives and left everything behind to start over in another country not knowming wether or not they will make it.

UM

I went out with the UM the night of the Saturday 7th August between 10.30-01.30. This part of the Red Cross work involves going out into the centre of Almeria during the night and giving out food. There are two units, one that covers the city centre and one that goes into areas where there are more severe drug problems. The Red Cross team I went with had really built up long and trusting relationship with the homeless- they really cared about these people and the voluntary work gave them a lot of satisfaction.

I went with Minton and his team into the centre of Almeria, and Cait went with the other team. The main purpose was to give homeless people food, drink and hand out sanitation bags. Minton and his team knew who and where people were homeless in the centre. The people we met had the typical problems we associate with homelessness, alcohol abuse, addiction issues and social issues. Homelessness like any sub group in society is made up of different people from different places. On that night we met Spanish, Moroccan, French and German people.

We started by going into strips of waste land with flash lights and searching under clumps of trees and behind half derelict walls. Calling ‘hola, roja cruz’ . People often lived on old mattresses laying on cardboard and had old, dirty, well used sleeping bags. The team were well known, and everyone we met was happy to chat for a while and take coffee, magdalenas (little cakes), sandwiches with ham or cheese, juice and a sanitary bag (containing tissues, shower gel, shampoo, sanitary towels).
We then went to supermarket car parks, the back of the police station (some people lived there for safety) old abandoned cars and abandoned houses. In one of the abandoned cars the seats in the back had been folded down and at first glance it looked like a huge dust bin, however it was a collection of thing that might be useful old tin cans, clothes, cardboard, spare magdalena cakes, almost all items old and dirty.

The team was made up from a group of people with such a strong social conscious, both Minton and Esperanza had both come to live in Spain from Ecuador in South America. Minton had only been living in Spain for two years with his family and didn’t yet have his papers. Ramon was Spanish and I had been told (the description isn’t politically correct- due to translation difficulties) his brain was like a computer. All of them gave up three nights a week (and always Saturday) to do the UM.
There had been a mistake with the sandwiches (probably because Cait and I had helped and hadn’t ordered them in the right way for the UM) and we hadn’t brought enough cheese sandwiches many of the people we gave food to were Muslim and so didn’t eat meat unless it was halal meat. So they had to choose to go without. Minton was really cross about this, he really felt he was letting down people. He would also go back to pieces of waste land a couple of hours later to try to catch people we hadn’t seen before. There was also two vegetarians both very thin and with the problems of the street (alcoholic and drug dependency) but still very principled in their belief about not eating meat- it was difficult to comprehend.

At one thirty we finished and exhausted though I was it really was a very special learning experience.

Sarah.

The Third Patera

The third Patera that arrived came on Thursday 6^th Aug in the day. We arrived at the port in plenty of time and were able to help prepare the room this consisted of:

• Putting black plastic mattresses out in a line, where the immigrants would sit and wait,
• Preparing coffee, water, Magdalena cakes
• Getting the prepared clothes ready for everyone, in different sizes

We were then able to watch the patera being escorted into port. The patera itself was a tiny black dinghy about the size of four mattresses put together, you could hardly see it, and compared to the size of the red cross boat that was towing it, the vision was absurd, I mean how could thirty six people sail across the straight of water between Africa and Spain, under the baking hot sun on a small dinghy, it was incomprehensible.

So we could see the big orange Red Cross rescue boat pulling the Patera, and the guardia in a small speed boat circling both boats.

We waited on the harbour for the boats to arrive and then waited for the immigrants to start leaving the boat. The first to leave was two women and their children, the floor of the boat was so hot, it seemed to burn their shoeless feet.

The women and children were taken to a separate room and Sote (being able to speak French) went with them.

The immigrants left the boat in single file, and proceeded to the main room that had been prepared, they sat down in a row, and we handed clothes out to everyone.

There was about 15 policemen present and about 15 red cross staff also

Their details were then taken (name, age, date of birth, country of origen, sex) this proved to be complex, as different immigrants spoke different languages, so there was a mixture of French, Arrabic, Spanish and English.

Their temperature was taken, and if it was normal (every ones was) they had a green band put on their wrists, and then they could receive food and drink.

The police then took over, and we left.

Observations:

• The process was so well planned, organised and managed and the Red Cross really have so much experience in dealing with the arrival of Pateras.
• From start to finish everything was calm and co-operative.
• The immigrants seemed in pretty good health considering their journey.
• It was so good to be part of a team who had so much experience, and trusted us to be part of the work.
• It was such a brilliant and valuable experience to see what happens first hand when a patera comes into Spanish water.

Almeria's Sea of Plastic greenhouses from the air

Patera 2: All in the same boat?

Date and time: August 4, 2010, 6:00
Patera arriving from: Algeria
Reported time at sea: 3-4 days
Carrying: 17 young men dressed in casual clothes, in good health

On the night of the 3rd/4th August, a few of our group experienced the arrival of illegal immigrants to the coast of Spain in two Pateras- the boats which give our project its name. The boats had both left the north of Algeria at the same time and arrived to Almeria in the early hours of Wednesday morning, a few hours apart.
We were awoken at 6am by a call from the on-call Red Cross team at Almeria port, saying that a boat carrying 17 illegal passengers had been detected, and that volunteers were needed for their arrival to the port. A similar call earlier the same night had detailed 12 Algerian passengers aboard the first boat, including two minors.
When the Spanish Coastguard detects a Patera at sea, the Guardia Civil (police) and Red Cross are immediately informed.  The Guardia Civil sends a boat to detain the immigrants and bring them to shore, and the Red Cross also sends a boat out to assess the health and humanitarian needs of the passengers, including any emergencies. Meanwhile, the team leader on call at the Red Cross centre assembles a team of volunteers. This must be done quickly so that the Red Cross are present and ready at the landing station when the immigrants arrive.
The Guardia Civil boat arrived at around 6:45 with the 17 Algerian and Tunisian men aboard, and towing the Patera behind. We found the size of the Patera shocking, a small inflatable boat with a motor,  that you could imagine hiring for a day out at the beach or a lake for a family of five or six. Somehow these men had made it across the Mediterranean Sea, risking their lives for the tiny chance of reaching the shore undetected and being able to escape into Spain in search of a better life.  Unlike with Morocco, the Spanish government has a repatriation agreement with Algeria, which means that the immigrants can be sent directly back after their medical and humanitarian needs have been met. Brief chats with the men showed their relief and happiness at finally having reached Spain and the end of their gruelling journey, although they knew that they had only one or two brief days here before being deported.


There were no medical emergencies, but for the most part the immigrants were cold, wet and very dehydrated. The Red Cross medical officer assessed each patient and took details of name, age and nationality, giving a green wristband to those deemed "healthy", with the option of a red band for those needing the attention of a doctor. Meanwhile, we distributed dry clothes and shoes, water and hot drinks, and food to the immigrants. They seemed very grateful for everything and we were proud of the work we did as Red Cross volunteers.

The whole experience really put into context the process set in motion when a Patera arrives. Although we had it explained to us several times in the training, until I saw and felt the futility of the immigrants' journeys, I could not empathise fully with their situation. I can now relate the arrival to the immigrant settlements we visit inland. These people risk their lives for the chance of a better life, but when they arrive they are greeted by even further poverty, unemployment and exclusion from society.

Anya Stephenson, Aguadulce, Spain

Go, live and become

Today was the beginning of our action in the field through our trustworthy collaboration with the Red Cross. After one week of training, debates and discussions, we have so far really enjoyed the opportunity possibility given to us to deal with the illegal immigration situation.

I. Briefing, packing and acting:

As every day of work with the Red Cross, we planned our actions for the day. Today we worked on the project called “Asentamientos” which deals with delivering the basic food box to the immigrants who are living in the slums.

This box is almost 3kg of weight full of the basics sufficient for 72 hours: milk, rice, pasta, sugar, tissues. We made three stops this morning to different settlements to deliver the boxes to the people who were there (some of them were working). The rule was simple; each immigrant had to give their ID paper or health card to be registered to have a box.
This need of registration is very important because it enables Red Cross to evaluate the needs and the progress of the different communities.
We visited 3 middle sized settlements, all with a different feel:

All are located over what we would call ‘no man’s land’: the “sea of plastic” to describe a landscape full of greenhouses, and shelters made of garbage (plastic, pieces of wood, cardboard and metals). At the first settlement, there were only six immigrants and we met the only three women of the whole afternoon during our delivery of 70 boxes.

The second settlement was a camp of 17 very welcoming North African people, who invited us to drink tea and to come back whenever we wanted. One anecdote: they have a dog called Sarkozy, just to remind us that even in the place of nowhere the French touch could be present, I let you guess how, the animal was a guard dog.

The third camp illustrates well the fact that a trustworthy collaboration between the immigrants and the Red Cross is necessary to implement a dose of humanity in their daily life. In fact, the immigrants are scared about being arrested and sent back to their countries.
For us, far from solving the problem of these people, we learnt a lot about their conditions of living and realized the current gap that exists between their reality and our life of developed countries, consumers and citizens.

Through these moments with the immigrants and throughout this IPP we learn. Today we realized two things:

 First, that these immigrants actually live at the door of our consumptive society. In fact close to the shopping mall you can find the place where the immigrants live in shelters made of recycled stuff. On the one hand, as their crazy trip betrays their secret hope, they are attracted by our way of life. On the other side, this consumptive society exploits them to allow us to take the fruits of their work.

 Second: even if they live in shelters, steal to survive and are the casualties of the developed countries’ way of life, as we advertise them on TV, they stay human, friendly and grateful…
To conclude, before writing a post about our intervention on the Pateras we expect in the next few days, we could discover today the reality of the end of the immigrants’ trip, and hope that it would just be the hardest step for them to reach their dreams and fulfill their lives.

A voice from within Spain`s Sea of Plastic

From the air the most striking thing you see as you fly into Almeria, Spain is the white plastic that coats the land from close to the Mediterranean to the steep hills rising up a few kilometres from the coast. This enormous Sea of Plastic (Mar de Plastico), as it is called, is made up of hundreds of huge side-by-side greenhouses where much of Spain´s fruit and vegetables are grown year round.

What you don´t see on the beaches, or in the holiday communities and shopping centres that line this coast - are the workers who plant, tend and harvest the produce. They are hidden from sight. Most are undocumented workers from Africa who eke out a meager living, often for years, in illegal limbo.

Ali is an undocumented worker from the African nation of Burkino-Faso who nows lives and works in the sun-baked Almeria region. For two years he has navigated the shadow world of charity handouts and under-the-table cash payments for work in the greenhouses. The workers in these greenhouses only get cash - so there are no bank accounts, no records of employment, and no payroll taxes go to the Spanish government that help pay for health care and social security payments. He says his Spanish employers will not even acknowledge or greet him if they pass each other on the street or in a shop. For them he is a non-person.

Many workers give up or become depressed in this strange limbo world, but as an educated and articulate advocate for change, Ali is not ready to submit to a life without hope, rights or a future. And he has an idea.

Ali's idea is simple: Require undocumented immigrants to contribute a monthly payment to the Spanish government to help pay for the health care that is now provided free to them. He says doing this would:

1) Allow them to document their time in Spain - as they must prove that they have lived here for three years to get a residency document - essential for finding better jobs. Official records are had to get for the shadow people in the Sea of Plastic. Many live in the shantytowns - called asentiamentos (settlements) made of plastic sheets or in crumbling abandoned buildings, where addresses don`t exist.

2) Allow them to have the dignity of paying for services and contributing to the society they want to join.

3) Spare undocumented immigrants from accusations of benefitting from the work of others - and getting a free ride.

4) Help the cash-strapping Spanish government pay for health services.

Ali´s arguments are well constructed - polished during long hours of work in the blistering heat of the greenhouses in the Sea of Plastic.

Ironically, he admits, there`s a catch - a big one. Helping people document their time in Spain and become legal workers will reduce their chances of being hired because employers prefer illegal workers who get paid less, work longer days and get no benefits at all.

In Africa Ali worked for an international environmental organization. He now dreams of creating a chapter of that group in this region of Spain - where the monoculture greenhouses exhaust the soil and so much human potential, and so many dreams, shrivel in the scorching sun.

Neil McGillivray, Aguadulce Spain

Breakfast, shower and lunch at the immigrant centre.

With a small group of 4 we arrived at the immigrant centre in Almeria. The centre is a place where immigrants, legal or illegal, can come for different things. There are showers for them to wash themselves. They can get clothes from a room full of donated clothes. Then there is also internet for them to use and a television. The last thing is that they can get breakfast and lunch. For breakfast they can choose between milk, chocolate milk and coffee. The lunch was cheese and turkey sandwiches and juice made and served by Mayssam. All these things are free, they just have to show a card with a personal number, their name, country of origin and date of birth so that the Red Cross can keep track of them.

Joep and Odette started out sorting some donated clothes, while Mayssam was handing out the breakfast and talking to some of the people. Afterwards we kept track of the things the immigrants were coming in for, then we prepared and served lunch. The centre is an important facility for the immigrants as it allows them to eat and shower for free and get advice and help with finding a job, and we enjoyed finding out how it worked.

 

Soccer Championship of Senegal’s two biggest tribes: Wolof versus Peol.

In the west of Aguadulce, before the fields of the greenhouses, our little CISV team arrived at a big soccer field. The field was built by the immigrant community in the area because the immigrant settlers had no place to play soccer without disturbing the neighbourhood.  The government gave them a piece of land for themselves. They flattened the area and built a shelter for various table games beside it a soccer field with plants. Illegal immigrants to Spain tend to live in settlements together with people of their own nationality or tribe, for example the different ethnic groups of Senegal (Wolof, Peul and Toucouleur being the three largest) have distinct and separate communities here in Spain. However, the community centre and football pitch provide a place for different groups of immigrants to come together and interact.
Before the soccer game we met some of the immigrants and watched how skilled and fast they were atplaying checkers and cards: The concentration and motivation of the players was amazing, not to mention the excitement of the surrounding onlookers. Then the music started and the attention turned to the soccer game. Some of  the footballers even play in the Spanish second league. It was a hot, long and very competitive game between the Wolof and Peol teams, but in the end the Wolof prevailed, winning 3 – 2. But there were no losers; each team celebrated by dancing – even the CISV team joined in – and received trophies. The experience provide us an opportunity to meet some of the immigrant community in their own environment, and to show u show a little piece of their culture, their skill and social activity. What an experience!