Refugee Week: ‘The Man Who Fell From The Sky’

Refugee Week: ‘The Man Who Fell From The Sky’

For Refugee Week, our volunteer Katherine Hayes explores the documentary The Man Who Fell From The Sky to coincide with a free screening of the film on Thursday 17 June. To register for the film screening click here. 

In 2015, two men - Themba Cabeka and Carlito Vale - hid in the landing gear of a flight from Johannesburg to London. Vale tragically fell to his death, but Cabeka, against all odds, survived.

The story of these men is the subject of a documentary, The Man Who Fell From The Sky, released in January on Channel 4. The programme sees filmmaker Rich Bentley uncovering the stories of these two men, including travelling to Vale’s home country of Mozambique and an eye-opening interview with Cabeka, who now goes by the name of Justin.

Six years later, this tragedy is still emblematic of the drastic measures asylum seekers are forced to take to seek safety, as national self-securitization increases with the erection of walls, and closures of borders. The deaths of so-called ‘stowaways’ highlight the harsh reality for those seeking sanctuary in the UK - and globally. 

The documentary offers an insight into the complex motivations, sacrifices, and hardship these two men endured before their attempt to seek sanctuary in the UK. It sheds light on the stories behind the headlines, including how Cabeka settled in Liverpool after getting indefinite leave to remain in the UK. The documentary, too, contributes to the fight against problematic narratives surrounding migration in the UK. For example, according to the documentary, 109 stowaway attempts have been recorded worldwide, with London the most popular destination.

Watching The Man Who Fell From The Sky prompted me to look further into the UK’s government immigration system, which has failed too many people seeking sanctuary here, and those of other governments across the world. 

While the UK has signed up to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, including to “facilitate orderly, safe, and responsible migration and mobility of people, including through implementation of planned and well-managed migration policies”, this has not been implemented in practice. Indeed, international agreements are often not binding, meaning this has performed merely as a guiding document. 

Moreover, the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration, which was adopted by the UK in 2018,  outlines the necessity for safe routes of travel, of new supportive programmes, and emphasizes the reduction of irregular migration as a mainstream goal. Again, the UK has not followed through, with the agreement amounting to nothing more than another rubber-stamping exercise. 

The records of stowaways, as explored in the documentary, exemplify the perverse policies of governments internationally, including in the UK , which work to curb migration and ultimately leave those in desperate situations who need to seek safety with no other routes but those that are dangerous, or even fatal. 

It would seem the ‘Fortress Europe’ is operating at full force, with its policing of movement emblematic of a harsh regime that pushes a policy of containment. Arguably, since Brexit, the UK has moved towards considering itself as an island stronghold, removed from various binding agreements once held with the EU, signalling a new dark chapter we must fight against. 

Denying safe routes results too often in death. Between 1993 and 2021, Dutch NGO United for Intercultural Action has recorded 44,764 deaths of refugees and migrants. The Man Who Fell From The Sky is a sad reminder of the humans behind these figures, an antithesis to the morbid media coverage of bodies on beaches.  Home Secretary Priti Patel’s recently announced move to overhaul the asylum system, too, effectively further clamps down on ‘illegal’ arrivals of migrants into the UK, which only serves to penalise those seeking sanctuary when they have no other choice but to do this. These proposals exemplify a government that systemically fails to protect vulnerable people.