Commonsense discussions about illegal immigration in the Maghreb point the finger in the direction of authorities on both sides of the Mediterranean. The EU is reproached for closing its borders and North African governments for exploiting the problem by diverting attention elsewhere and downplaying its gravity. The Moroccan writer, Laila Lalami, through her collection of short stories Hope and Other Dangerous Pursuits (2005), prefers to focus more on the harraga populations themselves; it is their unthinking proclivities that exacerbate the problem and allow the ruling machinery to become biopolitical entities, working less for the interest of the impoverished populations and more for staying in power, no matter how.Through characters and narrative situations, Lalami shows that illegal immigration is a trap. For, even when the harrag makes it to the host country and starts sending remittances, as Aziz does, to family back at home, he remains a loser. The middle-class ideal of a...
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