Tags: Morocco, Spain, Ceuta, Melilla, migration,
Attempts to cross the border mainly involve nationals of the kingdom, whereas previously they mostly included Sub-Saharan Africans.
The situation is exceptional. Since Wednesday, September 11, around 4,000 Moroccans—nearly 150 of whom are minors—suspected of attempting to illegally enter the Spanish enclave of Ceuta have been arrested or turned away, according to a security source, while messages circulating on social media called for joining this territory on Sunday, September 15.
Although law enforcement pushed back hundreds of people massed near the border that day, most were arrested beforehand in surrounding towns like M’diq, Tétouan, or Tangier, according to activist sources. Officially, no one succeeded in crossing to the Spanish side, but according to testimonies, about twenty individuals from the city of El-Jadida, located 500 kilometers south, reportedly made it.
The significant presence of Moroccan citizens raises questions, as these forceful crossing attempts previously involved people from Sub-Saharan Africa. Between May 17 and 18, 2021, estimates suggest that between 8,000 and 12,000 Moroccans entered Ceuta amid a diplomatic crisis between Rabat and Madrid; Morocco was accusing Spain of harboring the leader of the Sahrawi independence movement, Brahim Ghali, for medical treatment. « But these departures had the tacit complicity of Moroccan authorities, » says researcher Ali Zoubeidi, who specializes in migration issues and is conducting a study on-site.
According to him, the events of September 15 are not comparable: “It’s no longer the clandestinity of small groups, sometimes aided by smugglers, as Moroccans were used to doing, but rather a massive mobilization and an open confrontation with law enforcement.”
Although not new, the use of social media seems more central than ever in planning these crossing attempts. Entire communities are organizing by city or neighborhood through WhatsApp or Facebook groups.
The influence of TikTok, where aspiring migrants document their experiences, is deemed significant by many observers. Widely cited in the Spanish press, the example of Chaimae El Grini illustrates the weight of this very popular social network in Morocco. Posted on her personal account on August 21, a photo of this 19-year-old Moroccan has already garnered over 4 million views. Originally from Martil, 35 kilometers south of Ceuta, she is seen smiling in a wetsuit, wet hair, and a thumbs-up after a five-hour swim crossing to the enclave.
Others have not been so fortunate. The Northern Observatory for Human Rights estimates that about forty Moroccans who left from Fnideq and Belyounech, two towns bordering Ceuta, have died or gone missing in the Mediterranean since the beginning of the year.
Access to the Coast Tightened
The resumption of relations between Rabat and Madrid in April 2022 had suggested a decrease in irregular arrivals to Ceuta. This was true in 2023, but the trend has reversed since then. Between January 1 and July 15, the number of illegal entries increased by 143% compared to the same period a year earlier. In August alone, the Moroccan Ministry of Interior reported thwarting more than 11,000 attempted crossings at the border.
In Fnideq, the road leading to Spain is now patrolled by police and auxiliary forces, while access to the coast is blocked. The border post has reopened, but the entire area and its surroundings remain under surveillance, with a date for a new massive crossing attempt set for Monday, September 30, according to social media. “The economic situation is very difficult, and more and more Moroccans will try to cross to the other side,” estimates Jamila, a biology student in Tétouan visiting Fnideq.
In 2019, the closure of the Bab Sebta crossing, used for the transit of tax-exempt goods from Ceuta before they spread throughout Morocco, led to the departure of thousands of families. Since then, conversion plans have been proposed for the “mule women” who carried goods on their backs, but the local economy has not recovered from the halt of smuggling, which represented between 6 billion and 8 billion dirhams (between 550 and 730 million euros) annually, according to Moroccan customs.
For thirty years, migrants have been attempting to cross the border, and the residents of Fnideq, some living just meters from the security barrier, have long become accustomed to them. However, associations monitoring this phenomenon acknowledge that their profile has changed. There are more women and youth, as well as unaccompanied minors. Rachid, a teacher in the region, recalls that in 2021, one of his 17-year-old students was absent from class for a month. “When he returned, he explained that he had managed to reach Ceuta but was ultimately turned back. He promised himself he would return.”
The age of those aspiring to emigrate is now significantly younger, with boys as young as 13, 14, or 15 attempting to reach Spain. Despite opposition from Ceuta’s authorities, the Supreme Court (Spain’s highest judicial authority) confirmed in January the illegality of their deportation to Morocco. “The most vulnerable families know this, and some are pushing their children to leave,” observes Ali Zoubeidi.
The crossing attempt on September 15 has received extensive commentary in the Moroccan press, with newspapers interpreting it as a consequence of failed public policies to revive the economy. Nevertheless, there are success stories, such as in the automotive industry, which is prominent around Tangier. The recent celebration of Mohammed VI’s 25-year reign in Tétouan and M’diq, a seaside resort where the king frequents, symbolized the situation in the Rif region, which was ignored by Hassan II.
Youth Distress
Yet the official narrative, which describes the kingdom as a “regional economic power” celebrating its “world-class infrastructure,” seems to clash with the reality: the distress of youth, not only in the north of the country but throughout the kingdom, where 1.5 million young people aged 15 to 24 are unemployed, neither studying nor in training.
The figures on clandestine departures to Spain are revealing in this regard. According to the Spanish Commission for Refugees, Moroccan nationals represented a quarter of illegal arrivals at Spain’s southern border in 2023; in Melilla (the other Spanish enclave, further east), nine out of ten; in Ceuta, a third of international protection requests; on the Andalusian coast, the top nationality; and in the Canary Islands, the second. These statistics are corroborated by the European agency Frontex and a recent survey from the Arab Barometer research network, which indicated in August that 53% of Moroccans wishing to emigrate are ready to do so without papers.
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