Bani Ansar - special Al Jazeera Net
"Nothing tempts to stay here," Youssef Marbah tells the story of his daily pain in the streets of Beni Ansar, north of Morocco, in search of an outlet that leads to the Spanish enclave of Melilla, which Rabat demands.
A few weeks ago, Youssef, 20, left his family home on the outskirts of Casablanca with a number of his peers in the direction of Beni Ansar, adjacent to Melilla, after he was tired of the hard work of earning only a few dirhams.
Until the hour of embracing the European dream, Youssef and his colleagues from the "harragas" (illegal immigrants) are forced to beg people to give them what they do with their thunder in the atmosphere of the supporters of the rain and the cold.
| A general picture of the border area between Melilla and the rest of the Moroccan territory (Al Jazeera) |
Strategic choice
Not far from Yusuf and his group, Abdul-Ali al-Marakchi (16 years old) is talking to three of his colleagues who arrived a week ago from the city of Bani Malal. There is no talk among them except about crossing the border and entering Melilla.
In the same tone as Yusuf, these young men talk about their economic situation. Abdel-A'ali asserts that he dreamed of continuing his studies, but the financial situation of his parents did not allow him to decide to emigrate as a strategic option for him.
The four young men in their conversation with Al Jazeera Net say that what makes them cling to the hope of achieving their dream is the news they constantly receive from the rest of their colleagues who managed to cross the border and catch up with the other bank of the Mediterranean.
If many young Moroccans choose to ride rubber boats to reach the shores of Spain, dozens of them who have managed to get into Melilla hide in trucks and buses that provide trips to Spanish ports.
But the question is constantly raised by observers and human rights organizations: Why do Moroccans resort to various risks to reach the other side of the Mediterranean?
Immigration and protests
In its annual report in Rabat on the human rights situation in the Kingdom, the Moroccan Association for Human Rights (the largest human rights association in the country) said that immigration has returned strongly to the social scene after the social protests in Morocco.
The protests focused mainly in the rural area of northern Morocco after Moroccan immigrants have been following other routes in recent years, including in particular the impersonation of Syrian refugees on the Turkish and Greek borders, according to the organization.
| Amari: Moroccan immigrant boats intensified in conjunction with social protests (island) |
The conclusion of the association is also confirmed by Hassan Ammari, a human rights activist in the "Alert Telephone" network, a network of international activists working to help migrants at risk at sea by communicating with them and locating them to rescue rescuers in Mediterranean governments to save them.
Amari said in a statement to Al Jazeera Net that while the state was carrying out a massive campaign against African migrants from sub-Saharan Africa, the boats of Moroccan immigrants - in conjunction with the social protests - reach the southern Spanish intensively.
According to the Moroccan activist, the figures on the network he is active in indicate that the number of boats that used to reach the northern bank of the Mediterranean was only five per day, but that pace will increase between June and September. With a rise in some days to nearly 150%.
He adds that the flows that have taken place have highlighted the diversity of the maritime routes used by migrants, especially in the western area of Al Hoceima and the Boulevard region of Nador province.
| Activists in the "telephone alert" protest in the maritime area of the city of Saidiya Morocco on the border with Algeria (Al Jazeera) |
Multiple reasons
As for the reasons for this, the researcher in international human rights law Hamid Belguit that after the adoption of Morocco's new constitution in 2011, expanded the space of hope for large groups of society, but what he called the turn of 2014 in the human rights and democracy, The way the state dealt with protests in the countryside, in reference to the end of the state of protests through the use of force.
| Dagit: The act of migration has other direct causes that contributed to his intelligence (Al Jazeera) |
However, the Moroccan researcher confirms in his speech to Al Jazeera Net that the migration act has other direct causes that contributed to its enlightenment, most notably the recovery of European economies after the economic crisis in 2008, which increased the attraction to Europe and the momentum of the Maghreb countries.
Another direct reason for this is the shift in sea-level techniques by resorting to the acquisition of boats with high technical and safety properties that enable migrants to safely reach European territory, thereby reducing the margin of loss and adventure.
While the predominant nature of the candidates' reasons for immigration is their economic and social nature, in the view of the latter, other social groups are affordable but seek dignity in societies with democratic practices and human rights.
Migration networks
The Moroccan government admits that the activity of secret immigration networks has increased this year compared to last year.
Mustafa al-Khalidi, the minister of civil society and relations with parliament and the government's spokesman, said the number of cases of emigration had been reduced from 39,000 to 54,000.
He pointed out that the country was concerned with addressing the activities of migration networks that had developed from its methods, and on the other by working to address the causes of migration.