Moroccan ’Mule Women’ Face Exploitation and Abuse at Spanish Border, Report Finds

According to the report, these "mule women", estimated at 3,500 including 200 minors, are "exploited by smuggling mafias" and work in "grueling" working conditions. They are victims of "ill-treatment, harassment and theft," the parliamentary report reads.

In total, at least four porters had died in 2017. They had been trampled in stampedes that occurred at a border post, located between Fnideq and Ceuta. This situation had led the Moroccan and Spanish authorities to define a daily quota of entries and to implement an alternating system between men and women. Thus, since April 2018, "mule women" have been transporting their goods in carts, instead of their sore backs.

Faced with this unsavory picture, the report recommends the implementation of alternatives such as an "industrial zone" in the north of Morocco. This will lead to the professional reconversion of these "carriers".