Moroccan Youth Find Success and Opportunity in Spain, Defying Migration Challenges

For these unaccompanied foreign minors (MENA), leaving their country of origin is the solution to hope for a better future. "In Morocco, no matter your level of education, you don’t have a job. I know a lot of people in my country who have studied all their lives and ended up unemployed in Morocco," explains Youcef Hamek, a 19-year-old Algerian who has been living in Majorca for two and a half years. He stayed in a minor center upon his arrival in 2018 and quickly learned Spanish and took a machine cleaning course. He has just finished his entrepreneurship training, reports Ultima Hora.

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As for Aymane Esbai, 19, a Moroccan from the city of Nador, he crossed the border with his mother to reach Melilla. He spent two years in a minor center, of which he has a bad memory, before deciding to go to Majorca to continue his studies and realize his dream of becoming a doctor. Upon his arrival on the island in 2020, he learned Spanish and is currently taking a vocational training course as a nursing assistant and in medicine.

"At 15, I already had in mind to leave for Europe as soon as possible. I asked my brother for money and I left by boat with 16 other people on board," recounts Oubida Brik, another 19-year-old Algerian. Currently, Oubida lives in an apartment of the Shambhala Foundation and Youcef, in an apartment of the GREC Majorca association, both of which are emancipation housing centers. Aymane, for his part, still lives in the family home, pending moving into an apartment. "I want to be rich and help my parents," he confides.

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The three young migrants, however, denounce the acts of racism and xenophobia they face on a daily basis. "There are a lot of people who judge us, who say ’here are the Moors who want to take everything from us’ and it’s not true. To get to Spain I suffered a lot. It’s a life I wouldn’t wish on anyone. And parties like Vox lie to the Spanish without knowing us," laments Aymane. And Youcef adds: "When I arrived in Majorca, I didn’t expect to see that. Here, they judge, they attacked me because I’m Muslim, for my culture." "We are all brothers and we must respect each other," says Aymane, who believes in brotherhood.