EU gatekeeper Morocco leverages its own interests
Morocco is taking its role as gatekeeper of migration toward Europe increasingly seriously. According to a recent statement by the Moroccan Royal Armed Forces, around 87,000 migrants were stopped in 2023, a steep increase compared to around 56,000 between January and August 2022.
The majority were arrested near Morocco's western coastline, the army stated. From there, the Spanish Canary Islands are only around 100 kilometres away.
Between January and November 2023, however, 56,852 people also arrived on the Canary Islands via that route. This marks a record increase of 82% compared to 2022, according to a recent statement by the European Council.
However, not all of the arrivals depart from Morocco. Many board small vessels or inflatable boats along the west coast of Africa.
In 2023, a record number of people also drowned in the Atlantic Ocean. According to the Spanish non-profit organisation Caminando Fronteras, most of the 6,618 deaths – more than double the previous year's number – occurred between Morocco and the Canary Islands,
"There are many reasons why the so-called 'Western route' is increasingly being used, above all, because the other routes are even more dangerous," explained Sonja Hegasy, vice director of the German research centre Leibniz-Zentrum Moderner Orient.
Conditions in Libya are much harsher, for instance, as aspiring migrants are brutally pushed back and locked up in inhumane prisons. Other North African countries are not known for their soft handling of migrants either, Hegasy added.
Morocco's migration pact
In the future, Morocco's role as a European Union migration gatekeeper is likely to intensify. After no less than seven years of negotiations, Morocco and the EU finally agreed on a migration pact in December 2023.
Hans Leijtens, executive director of Frontex, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, promptly paid a visit to Rabat to strengthen dialogue and cooperation with Morocco's border management authorities. "Morocco stands out as a crucial partner in Africa," Leijtens said in a statement.
"It is important to stress that while the migration pact has been agreed upon, we're very far from the pact being implemented," Camille Le Coz, associate director at the Migration Policy Institute Europe, pointed out.
"It is a political agreement that will mobilise EU budgets and staff to set up the infrastructure so that the migration pact will become reality in a few years," said Le Coz.
"The equation is that the EU supports Morocco's territorial claim, and Morocco supports Europe's refugee policy," said Sonja Hegasy.
Meanwhile, Moroccan commitment was already being tested in early January 2024. On New Year's Eve, the Royal Moroccan Armed Forces intercepted and arrested around 1,100 Moroccans, Algerians, Tunisians, Yemenis and people from sub-Saharan countries en route to the Canary Islands, as well as to Spain's North African enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla.
These two Spanish territories on the northern Moroccan coast are the European Union's only land borders on the African continent.
Western Sahara territory as a bargaining chip
For Morocco, "migration has been a classic pressure card in its negotiations with the European Union," said Sarah Zaaimi, deputy director for communications at the Washington-based think tank Atlantic Council.
"In 2020 and 2021, amid a crisis with Spain, Morocco deliberately allowed local and incoming clandestine migrants to storm the borders of the two enclaves Ceuta and Melilla, which resulted in a major panic in the EU and Madrid," Zaaimi added.
However, after around 2,000 people ran towards the border of Melilla, triggering hours of violence and at least 23 deaths in June 2022, a thaw in diplomatic relations took place between Morocco and Spain. "The situation forged the path for reconciliation between Morocco and Spain," said Zaaimi.
In addition to collaborating at the border, Spain agreed to support Rabat's autonomy over Western Sahara – a former Spanish colony largely annexed by Morocco in 1975, which has since become a popular departure point for migrants aiming for the Canary Islands.
Spain was not, however, the first state to accept Western Sahara as Moroccan. In 2020, the United States recognised the region as Moroccan as part of a "quid pro quo" for Rabat's normalisation of diplomatic relations with Israel.
Since then, numerous African consulates have been established. The Gulf states have also supported Rabat's claim on the phosphate-rich region with infrastructure and energy investments.
Moroccan claims on Western Sahara are not recognised by the United Nations and the occupation remains illegal under international law.
Western Sahara is also home to the Algeria-backed Polisario Front, which represents the local Sahrawi people. The Sahrawi have been fighting for their independence for around 50 years. Tensions between Morocco and its neighbour Algeria remain unresolved.
Sub-Saharan migrants forego Europe for Morocco
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Making the best of a difficult situation: there are a reported 70,000 to 200,000 sub-Saharan migrants in Morocco, many of them undocumented. They arrived years ago planning to reach Europe. But the EU's policy of externalising borders made it harder to travel on. Morocco seemed more welcoming, although its migration policy remains ambiguous. Some migrants suffer exploitation, and social and cultural integration are not a given -
En route from Dakar to Casablanca: a minivan on its way to Morocco transporting goods and people along the road from Rosso (on the border between Senegal and Mauritania) to Nouakchott. Minivans leave Dakar several times a week for the 3000 km drive up the coast to Casablanca and back. Many migrants, including Senegalese, start their journey to the Mediterranean here or run import-export businesses along the route -
Tough working conditions: Ousmane Djom with a friend on the roof of a building in Ait Amira, a municipality in the south of Agadir. In the background, hundreds of greenhouses signal the success of Morocco's "Green Plan" that turned the region into a hub for agriculture. Many young sub-Saharan Africans work here for around €6 daily. Almost no one has a valid residency permit and working conditions are tough -
No papers, no protection: Djom and a colleague walk through banana plants in one of the giant greenhouses. Working without official papers and lacking legal protections is common in other sectors, such as construction and fishery. There's a certain tolerance for migrants who have overstayed their visas, benefiting industries that employ large numbers of low-cost, undocumented workers -
Making a living in Marrakesh: the Senegalese community, which is the largest among sub-Saharan migrants and still growing, is well organised, especially in urban centres like touristy Marrakesh. Here, it is easy to join the street trade as a first job – like this Senegalese salesman on the famous Jemaa el-Fnaa Square -
Solidarity among migrants: Babacar Dieye, President of the Association of Senegalese in Morocco (ARSEREM), talking to other members in the Dar Sahada district of Marrakesh. The association and religious networks help members find housing, understand administrative procedures and access essential services. ARSEREM has 3,000 members. The Mouridiyya Islamic Sufi Brotherhood has 500 members in Marrakesh alone -
Still dreaming of Europe: after working hard in many underpaid jobs across Morocco, Omar Baye found employment as a chef in a restaurant in Agadir. "I didn't come to Morocco to stay. I tried in vain to reach Spain [irregularly by boat] for three years," he said. Although he is now a documented immigrant and has started a family, he has not given up on his dream of moving to Europe -
The perks of speaking French: for years, Babacar Diomande (standing) has worked in a call centre in Marrakesh. Now, he leads a small team for a trading company. Thousands of migrants work in call centres for a monthly salary of up to €55. Companies mainly deal with the French market, making it increasingly difficult to hire Moroccans, who have turned away from the language introduced during the period of French colonial rule -
Routine racism: Mohamed Cheikh runs a parking lot on the outskirts of Marrakesh. He obtained a residency permit early because he married a Moroccan woman. He says that the community still does not accept mixed marriages and such marriages must often remain secret. Cheikh has a good relationship with his customers but still experiences many forms of racism -
Social tensions and violence: Yahya Aidara opened a restaurant and a business in Marrakesh importing products from Senegal. He has many Moroccan friends today, but he "had so many disputes with sellers in the past," he says. Morocco has a 13% unemployment rate. 30% of Moroccans aged under 24 have no work. Where competition is fierce, tensions between the local population and migrants sometimes lead to violence -
Encouraging integration: an area of Casablanca's Medina market is nicknamed "marche senegalais" because of its many Senegalese traders. The increase of migrants settling in Morocco pushed Rabat to rethink its integration strategies. Since 2014, two regularisation campaigns allowed more than 50,000 foreigners to obtain residency permits. In 2018, the African Union named Morocco the 'African champion of migration' -
Migrants need more support: a young Senegalese (centre) listening to music on the tramway in Casablanca. Between 2014 and 2022, the EU allocated €2.1 billion in cooperation funds to Morocco to strengthen its border and manage migration. However, the country's legal framework for immigration is still based on a 2003 anti-terrorism law and lacks funds for integration policies
Morocco's foreign policy shift
"Morocco has enforced its political claim on Western Sahara for many decades and probably feels it is on the safe side now, so it can use its refugee policy to exert further pressure to boost domestic development," Hegasy said.
And yet Morocco would not appear to be looking for financial aid. "Recent changes in Moroccan foreign policy show that the kingdom has become much more confident, even aggressive," Atlantic Council's Zaaimi said.
"I find it very hard to believe that Morocco is using migrants to leverage development aid, as the kingdom proved in the way it managed the recent earthquake crisis," she added.
Last September, when a devastating earthquake destroyed parts of Morocco and killed almost 3,000 people, Morocco declined most foreign aid.
"Morocco now favours sovereignty over its old colonial relationships and dependency dynamics with the EU, especially with Rabat diversifying its partners beyond Western countries to include the United Arab Emirates, China, Saudi Arabia, even Russia, Latin America and others," Zaaimi said.
Major investment projects, such as co-hosting the World Cup 2030 together with Portugal, plans for the "Europe-Africa Gibraltar Strait fixed link" – a tunnel under the sea between Spain and Morocco – and attracting industry have become Morocco's priority, she added.
© Deutsche Welle 2024