________________________________________________________________________
A
COLLECTIVE TRIBUTE TO
MOHAMED
KHAMISSE ZACHARIA:
THE
END OF A DREAM
On November 19, 2020, on the A16 in Calais, a
young 20-year-old Sudanese lost his life and all his dreams. He was our
compatriot, our brother, our friend.
Mohamed died hit by a car while he was trying
to escape the police gas from the back of a truck, vehicle of his desire to
reach England as soon as possible. Like his friends from his country, Mohamed
left his family trapped in a refugee camp in Darfur,
Sudan, and bravely tried his chance towards Europe. Seeking asylum in France
when all his compatriots feel rejected there was
unimaginable for him. So he set off towards a destination that became a sad
destiny.
Mohamed KHAMISSE ZACHARIA is mourned by his
parents over there in Sudan and by us, his friends, here at the border with the
United Kingdom. We called his parents to tell them of his death. We heard the
despair of a mother. The associations were together at our side. Mohamed brings
us together. We are all inhabited by the same desire to live that he had.
The 20 years of his life cry out to our hearts,
our consciences and to the conscience of humanity. Here is our cry, that of the
exiles of Calais: "We don't know what to do, we would like to reach the
United Kingdom, we dream of a dignified life, a life of human beings. As you
well know, our country knows war, the injustice of governments. You know it, we are here out of necessity, after going through too much
suffering on the road. Let the police and the government understand. Why are they chasing us on the highway when
scanners, security guards with dogs, detectors are already sifting through all
the trucks at the port?”
O absent so present,
Thanks to your voice, your greatness of soul,
The breath of your lips comes to us,
These lines were born from our hands,
Filled with the colors of freedom, peace and justice
Mohamed's Sudanese friends
________________________________________________________________________
⁋ This letter
arrived as we were finalising the proofs of the journal.
It is written by friends of Mohamed Khamisse Zacharia.
One more name, among so, so many dead in recent years…
The community activists in Calais have begun a project of
counting and
naming those who have died at the border.
See: Maël Galisson and
the Institute of Race Relations report at
https://www.gisti.org/IMG/pdf/2020-11_rapport_deadly_crossings_final.pdf