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There are some really great books about Morocco and they are not all written by Paul Bowles. One of the last I read was Welcome to Paradise (Granta Books, 192p.) by Mahi Binebine, a Moroccan math teacher turned painter/author with six books to his credit.
In this novel, Binebine addresses the harragah phenomenon - those would-be illegal immigrants without papers who wait on the northern shores of Morocco for the chance at a better life in the mythological European paradise of wealth and plenty. We've all seen them hanging around the ports and the cafes, looking desperate and hungry. And most likely we pretended not to see them or we crossed the street to avoid them
Binebine tells their tale through the story of eight desperate people to whom a treacherous Mediterranean crossing in the dark of night in a rowboat is less daunting than returning to the crushing poverty and hopelessness of their homes. We visit the grungy cafe where the smuggler plies his trade in the open. We sit on the beach with them as they wait, wondering when the time will be right to cross and whether they will succeed or not. We can't imagine what would drive them to hand over what money they have, to risk their lives and to risk the life of a child. How can they place all of their hopes in the hands of an ex-con who may or may not betray them?
Hardly a day goes by that newspapers somewhere don't report on the illegal crossing of Africans into Europe. They flock to the coastal ports and hide in the woods or on beaches until the right moment arrives, if it arrives. Often, bodies wash up on the shores of both Morocco and Spain with no identification, no means for notifying the families who are waiting behind for word of success or safety.
Welcome to Paradise puts a human face on those immigrants and those bodies. Those who can't imagine 'why' will get a glimpse into the lives of those can't imagine 'why not'.
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