Their sinking is just the latest in a new series of dramas. Fifty-one migrants of undetermined nationality, including three children, died in Atlantic waters on Saturday July 1. They had embarked in southern Morocco, with the hope of reaching the Canary Islands. Finally, “only four survivors of the boat that left Tan-Tan remain”, reported on Twitter Helena Maleno Garzón, the founder of the NGO Caminando Fronteras, after the discovery of the tragedy.
Already on June 11, 51 Moroccans had disappeared under similar conditions. They had started a crossing from the seaside town of Agadir, about 265 km further north. Just ten days later, on June 21, another shipwreck was reported 160 km off the island of Gran Canaria; two people were found dead during the rescue, 39 others were missing, according to information from Caminando Fronteras, an association that defends the rights of migrants.
While all eyes are now on Tunisia – especially the port city of Sfax, where violence against migrants has erupted –, at the other end of the Maghreb, southern Morocco and Western Sahara, territory that the Cherifian kingdom claims, have again become starting points.
Tightening of surveillance in northern Morocco
On the Canary Islands, a Spanish archipelago located off the Moroccan coast and a destination targeted by migrants, irregular entries were however down 63% in the first quarter of 2023 compared to the same period in 2022, said the Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez, in April. The result of an agreement between Rabat and Madrid, which entered into force in April 2022, after three years of diplomatic crisis.
Since the start of this new cooperation, the borders of the two Spanish enclaves on African soil, Ceuta and Melilla, and the Strait of Gibraltar have been more closely monitored. Sub-Saharans and Moroccans who continue to try to enter are “the most desperate, those who have no networks or contacts”, says Mehdi Alioua, teacher-researcher specializing in migration at the International University of Rabat. A year ago, on June 24, 2022, when around 2,000 sub-Saharan migrants tried to cross the wall surrounding Melilla in force, police repression left 27 dead, according to the Moroccan Association for Human Rights (AMDH).
The tightening of surveillance in northern Morocco could explain the increase in attempts from the south, despite the higher prices for crossings. The extent of the coasts makes monitoring more complex. “If the Atlantic is monitored, it is not the security priority, describes Mehdi Alioua. The Moroccan forces mainly monitor the east of the territory, along the border with Algeria. However, for the researcher, the passages taken by migrants do not necessarily obey a well-thought-out logic. “There are parameters that make the roads fork (…), word of mouth or social networks. »
One of the most dangerous routes
In Spain, two weeks before the general elections, some are analyzing the resurgence of migratory flows from the Moroccan coasts through a political prism. “On the right in particular, some think that it could be a warning for the possible successor of Pedro Sanchez, Alberto Nuñez Feijoo, if he rectifies the Spanish position on the Moroccan Sahara [name given by Morocco to the Western Sahara ],” suggests Spanish journalist Ignacio Cembrero as a possible explanation. If the current head of the Spanish government had taken his country out of its neutrality on the subject, in March 2022, by estimating in a letter to King Mohammed VI that the Moroccan autonomy plan for Western Sahara represented “the most serious basis , realistic and credible for the resolution of the dispute”, his rival from the People’s Party seems less favorable to such a position.
On Moroccan territory, the authorities would try to limit attempts to cross by the southern route, testify local associations. “Right now, it’s impossible to travel south without a residence permit,” says Jonas Nsona, manager at Arcom, an association that helps migrant women. “Prior checks are more present, especially in buses and transport, we ask for more administrative documents,” adds Camille Denis, director of the Antiracist Group for the Support and Defense of Foreigners and Migrants (Gadem).
The journey to the Canary Islands is considered one of the most dangerous routes by the International Organization for Migration. If it takes 450 km of navigation from Dakhla, in Western Sahara, some migrants attempt an even longer and more perilous crossing. On July 4, 159 people rescued at sea and then disembarked in Tenerife are said to have “departed from Mbour, Senegal, eight days earlier”, reports the Spanish news agency EFE. On Monday July 10, Spanish rescuers announced that they had located a boat on the Atlantic which could carry around 200 migrants from Senegal.
According to Caminando Fronteras, who gets his information from calls from migrants or their relatives, the ship wanted by the Spanish authorities left on June 27 from the Senegalese town of Kafountine, located about 1,700 km from the coast of the Canary Islands. The NGO finally ensures that two other boats that left Senegal on June 23 are missing, with around 120 people on board in total.
