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Chapter 2
The Invisible
On November 12th 2003, a boat laden with fifty-three Africans prepared to depart
from Senegal for a four-day voyage to the south of Italy. On board was twenty-one year
old Jigo, a police officer from Mauritania desperate to escape the poverty and racism he
suffered at home. A month earlier he had quit his job, paid nearly three months salary for
passage, and was looking forward to what he thought, based on the stories he heard from
friends and family, was going to be a promising new life in Europe. Once loaded with its
human cargo the boat slipped away from the port of Dakar, unimpeded.
On their second day at sea the captain informed the passengers that the ship was
entering heavy weather typical of the Mediterranean ocean that time of year. Everyone
was to stay below. Jigo waited hopefully but the days passed with difficulty; the small
hold was becoming inundated with the stink of human waste, sweat and other filth. Most
passengers began to run out of food, were having trouble sleeping, and began to miss
their homes and families; others were becoming restless. Jigo remained quiet hoping the
close quarters would not rouse baser human instincts among the passengers: the tales of
rape and murder on these ocean crossings were well known to him and, no doubt, to the
others crossing with him.
With the passing of time concern began to grow. General consensus among the
passengers was that the trip was taking much too long. Making matters worse, the
captain had ceased communicating with the cramped mass as too had the small crew of
four burley sailors. Speculation circulated within the hold that the boat had been sighted
and was forced to detour; others wondered whether the ship was lost. Finally, after