1,200 dirhams a month, then swimming to Ceuta: why they left

At 18, Sohaib worked in a café in Tétouan for 1,200 dirhams a month, plus a few tips. He also had to help his mother and sister, who had almost no resources.

On Bladi.net : They Risked Their Lives to Enter Ceuta, Then Did Everything They Could to Return to Morocco

He had been thinking for several months about leaving Morocco. When WhatsApp groups began announcing a mass crossing to Ceuta by sea, he took his chance. He had learned to swim properly and says he crossed the border without any major difficulty.

What followed was more brutal. With no food in the streets of Ceuta, he says he was looked at “like an animal” before being sent back to Morocco.

In its report from the border, Libération also gives the floor to Houssam, 21, who came from Azrou with three friends.

2,000 dirhams for working all night

A baker and pastry chef, Houssam worked from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. for 2,000 dirhams a month. Motherless and abandoned by his father, he says he no longer sees a future in Morocco.

Despite being forcibly returned, he says he intends to try again as many times as necessary, by swimming or by attempting to hide under a truck bound for Algeciras.

A 14-year-old girl had walked more than twenty kilometres from the Fnideq region to reach the border. Crying when it was time to return to Morocco, she explained that she had wanted to flee poverty.

On Bladi.net : 8,000 Dirhams in Morocco to Sleeping in a Sebta Alley: Hamza’s Harsh Reality

Yassin, 30, had already managed to reach Europe before being sent back to Morocco. This new attempt shows that failure and the dangers of the crossing are not always enough to put an end to the migration project.