2024-02-20 16:00:24
A corpse “probably that of a migrant” was discovered following the destruction of an informal living space in Casablanca, where several hundred sub-Saharan exiles lived. All were expelled to the south and east of Morocco, according to the Moroccan Association for Human Rights (AMDH).
A charred body, “probably that of a migrant”, was found amid the rubble of what was still a migrant camp a few hours earlier. He was transferred to the morgue for autopsy, on instructions from the public prosecutor. “A judicial investigation was opened by the security services to identify the identity of the deceased, find out the circumstances of the incident, as well as determine responsibilities,” authorities told the daily Assabah.
A few hours earlier, at dawn, 4,000 police officers, gendarmes and even members of the anti-riot force dismantled this informal living space, located next to the Ouled Ziyan bus station, in Casablanca. The tarpaulins and garbage bags erected as tents have given way to what now looks like a vast wasteland. In a photo posted Monday February 19 by the Moroccan Association for Human Rights (AMDH), a few pieces of charred wood are still visible.
According to “official sources” cited by Assabah, these fires were lit by the exiles themselves as a protest. A version contradicted by the testimony of Nabil, a 23-year-old Sudanese exile present during the dismantling. “It was the authorities who set the camp on fire; they have been doing this for years. Why would we burn our things?” he reacted to The New Arab, still dressed in his pajamas .
That day, hundreds of exiles had no choice, supervised by law enforcement vehicles, but to climb into “the thirty buses” chartered for them, indicates the AMDH. According to her, these vehicles headed towards the south and the eastern border of Morocco, “in difficult conditions”. Around a hundred people were also arrested.
“It’s a mess here”
In six years, this camp has sheltered nearly 1,400 exiles, indicates AMDH. People from West Africa took refuge there, “next to an unfinished tram station”. Some “East Africans, mainly from Sudan, are sheltering in an abandoned school nearby.” For the NGO, this situation was “indirectly created by the Moroccan authorities who are pushing back migrants arrested in the north” of the country.
Morocco has for years been a transit country for sub-Saharan candidates for exile who wish to reach Europe. But since the strengthening of controls at the country’s borders – Moroccan forces arrested around 87,000 migrants heading towards Europe last year, compared to just over 70,000 in 2022 – many exiles have been pushed back to the south and the center of the territory, notably in Beni Mellal.
And to go north once more, migrants first reach Casablanca. The city does not have any reception structure for exiles, so they try to survive in improvised living spaces, like that of Ouled Ziyan.
The makeshift tents set up by sub-Saharan migrants from the Ouled Ziyane Route on the Casablanca ring road. Credit: Nadia Ben Mahfoudah/RFI
Deemed unsanitary, the camp is regularly destroyed by the authorities. And it was rebuilt almost immediately, the candidates for exile having no fallback solution.
“Here, it’s a struggle, it’s too cold,” Ousmane, a 19-year-old Malian, testified in February 2023 at RFI. Even with the blankets, it’s not okay. I don’t sleep, even at night.” The young man also deplored not being able to wash, “sometimes for 2 months”, because no health infrastructure exists nearby. The harassment of the police on site is daily. “They collect our equipment, what we eat. They chase us,” complained Aboubacar, a Burkinabe exile.
In February 2023, scuffles broke out with the police during yet another dismantling. Six migrants were sentenced to two years in prison and a fine of 60,000 dirhams (around 5,000 euros) for “insulting and assaulting civil servants, destruction of public property and illegal migration”.
“Considerable” prostitution
For these migrants stuck in Morocco, it is difficult to abandon their dreams of Europe to build their lives in the kingdom. If for several years, Rabat has been pursuing a policy of integrating statutory refugees, for all other exiles, accessing a job, having a roof over their heads, and obtaining papers is a challenge. In December 2022, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) also pointed out in a press release “the lack of opportunities in Morocco, particularly at the socio-economic level” and “the difficulties in integrating there” .
Read also
“Despite all my efforts, I am still a migrant”: undocumented immigrants, a blind spot in Moroccan politics
These obstacles further weaken the exiles. According to Aida Kheireddine, Moroccan researcher and expert in gender and migration, women with unstable employment “are exposed to different types of violence, primarily sexual,” she explains to Deutsche Welle. According to Daniel Nourissat, a priest in Rabat committed to the cause of migrants in Morocco and met by InfoMigrants in May 2022, in the country, “the prostitution of migrant women, often single mothers”, is even “considerable”.
Sara left Ivory Coast for Mohammedia, near Casablanca, in 2020. “To eat and dress, I beg, and I sometimes clean ‘undeclared’ in offices”, described -she in May 2022. While waiting for a decision from (UNHCR) concerning her asylum request, the young woman was completely discouraged. “While waiting for a response from the UNHCR, I can do nothing. Even follow training, it is impossible because I am asked for a residence permit. However, I need to work to survive. Every day, I search, I search , without success. I can’t take any more of this.”
1708452317
#Morocco #body #dismantling #camp #Casablanca
