Dhaka, Nov. 27 -- The last thing Aissata Ndiaye remembers before waking up in a Moroccan hospital was shivering helplessly while watching her friend Khadija - a young mother - drift away in the Mediterranean. The inflatable dinghy on which they had been trying to cross the sea had just capsized. Ndiaye was only one of a few who managed to make it back on board.

Ndiaye, who was only 21 at the time, had paid a woman more than one million CFA francs (about $1,700) to secure her passage from Tangiers to Spain. She was hoping to attend university once she arrived.

The last thing Aissata Ndiaye remembers before waking up in a Moroccan hospital was shivering helplessly while watching her friend Khadija - a young mother - drift away in the Medi...