Share
twitterlinkedinfacebook
Image 1 of 1
SAR00937MOR.jpg
Rikia Rmanda at her home in 'Barrio Chino' in the town of Beni Anzar. Rikia works as a porter carrying heavy packages of imported goods on her back over the border between Melilla and Morocco. Hundreds of people work ferrying such loads over the border. Melilla is a Spanish exclave on the north coast of Africa bounded by Morocco and the Mediterranean Sea. Many would-be migrants see it as the gateway to Europe which accounts for the high-level of security along its borders. However, it is also a route of entry for goods and, if they can be carried by a person (the Bario Chino gate is for pedestrians only), do not attract import taxes. Thus a micro-industry has evolved carrying huge packages of goods over the border. Once the preserve of poor women, known as 'Mule-Women', the economic crisis means more and more men are acting as porters and they aggressively seek out the limited employment opportunities.