Moroccan Teen’s European Dream Ends in Tragedy: A Tale of Migration and Despair

After the loss of the main source of income for his family, Mustapha, 14, a good student who was finishing his first year of middle school in the spring of 2021, is obsessed with the idea of leaving his province of M’diq-Fnideq where the unemployment rate is around 18%, double the national rate, reports Streetpress. His mother tried to dissuade him, but his obsession was greater than she imagined. Especially since the teenager knows that thousands of people would have left the city since March 2020. Why not him?, he explains to his mother. "There is no future for me here. I have to leave," he convinces himself. In May 2021, the minor achieves his goal. He arrives in Valencia, the third largest city in Spain. He joins a home, goes back to school and gets good grades. The teenager often contacts his mother. "Look mom how tidy my room is, I even make my bed!" he rejoices in a video call with his mother.

Two years later, his life takes a turn for the worse. He drops out of school again. The home too. In March 2023, the Spanish services publish a missing persons notice. Mustapha has since left Spain for France, without his mother knowing. After that, he cuts off all contact with her. In France, he hangs out on the streets of Barbès alongside other much older migrants. Very early on, he becomes addicted to drugs and consumes Lyrica and Rivotril in particular, called "saroukh" (the rocket) and "madame courage" by North African kids. Other minors and he lead a "hooligan" life. Mustapha was the subject of seven police reports for "aggravated thefts" in less than six months. He will be incarcerated in pre-trial detention in the juvenile wing of the Villepinte prison, September 2023 pending his trial. Then comes the time of remorse in his 8m2 cell.

After a month of incarceration, Mustapha is sentenced to six months in prison fully suspended on probation for his acts of "aggravated violence." After four weeks of confinement, but he will no longer be the same. "He has become crazy." He avoids talking about his stay in prison, but he falls back into the same vices. On the morning of October 2, 2023, Mustapha "is found curled up in the fetal position, unconscious, in the toilets of a restaurant. A window has been broken and the establishment is in disarray. The cash register is missing." The teenager is not in a normal state. The drugs that a friend would have given him made him lose all his memories, he explains to the judge at his return to court. He doesn’t know what happened in this restaurant. He is back in court. He collapses in front of the social service staff in charge of the social investigation. He does not want to go back to prison. But he will be sent behind bars despite his physical and psychological condition. The desire to commit suicide crosses his mind. At night, the guards find Mustapha hanged in his cell in the juvenile wing of Villepinte (93), less than 24 hours after his arrival. He will be immediately admitted to the hospital. A month later, the 16-year-old boy dies.