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What happens between Spain and Morocco, Greece and Turkey is no different from what takes place in the Sicilian Channel, the strip of sea between Sicily and the costs of Libya.
They come from Africa, Maghreb, Pakistan, Palestine or Turkey with a common goal; finding new opportunities.
Some of the immigrants coming from places like Eritrea, Palestine or Iraqi Kurdistan are genuine asylum seekers, escaping from war zones or countries where their fundamental rights are suppressed; others, mainly coming from North Africa, are just after better opportunities in life.
These people, with different reasons for their dangerous journeys find that their paths cross during the trip, which eventually brings them to the Sicilian coast, through a weary navigation from Libya to Sicily that can last up to twenty hours.
The crossing of the Sicilian Channel is a costly affair, both financially (costing several thousands Euros per trip), and for the risks involved in boarding precarious vessels that are normally overloaded, often with women and children. During the summer the navigation is somewhat easier, but it is during the winter that the immigrants risk more, when the weather is no good friend, and the Sea turns into a killer.