This book is an autobiographical narrative which tells the journey of an Algerian illegal immigrant who survives death and witnesses the horrors of crossing the borders towards Europe. The narrator and author, Larbi Ramdani, was unable to find work after graduating with a BA in media and communications. Seeking a better life and attempting to prove himself, Larbi chooses to cross the borders to Europe illegally after his visa requests are rejected multiple times. This narrative is a testimony to the suffering and horrors he witnessed as he travelled from Algeria to Turkey and then to Greece where he was imprisoned, then deported back to Algeria. In this memoir, Laarbi, who had to conceal his identity and pretend to be Syrian, hoping for asylum, provides detailed and unsettling descriptions of his experience as he survives the terror of the sea, the harsh weather conditions, the greed and indifference of smugglers, and the ruthlessness of the police and security forces. While Larbi fails to realise his dream of the ‘promised paradise’ of Europe, he survives death and, with this text, preserves his story and the stories of other migrants who lost their lives on the way.

Approximate number of pages: 336 p.

Foreign rights: contact the author