Morocco Accused of Mass Arrests and Forced Displacement of Sub-Saharan Migrants

These large-scale "raids" and forced displacements concerned Africans, according to a statement from the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor. A worrying situation, according to this body, which alerts the Moroccan authorities to respect the rights and dignity of migrants.

According to the statement, the migrants were transferred inhumanely to the city of Tan-Tan, some 300 km from Laâyoune, sometimes detained in a remote area, leaving them without food or water.

Ibrahima, a migrant met by Euro-Med Monitor, said: "At 11 p.m., I was shocked to see the Moroccan police storm my apartment without a court order or prior warning."

"They tortured and arrested me, then took me the next day to a remote region, which later turned out to be the city of Tan-Tan. This city is hundreds of kilometers from our homes. The police left a group of detainees and me without food or drink."

According to information gathered by Euro-Med Monitor, this series of arrests and displacements is not a first in Laâyoune, the aim being to remove migrants from the border area. The interventions against migrants, sometimes accompanied by violence, took place during the day, not just at night.

The city of Laâyoune is one of the areas where immigrants from Morocco depart for the Canary Islands about 200 km away. The number of immigrants arriving in the Spanish archipelago reached about 23,023 at the end of 2020, eight times more than in 2019.

Faced with this situation, voices are rising to alert the Moroccan authorities. Omar Al-Ajlouni, a legal researcher at Euro-Med Monitor, said: "The inhumane treatment of migrants through arrests and violations cannot be justified in any way."

"The Moroccan authorities are required to apply the laws of treaties relating to the rights of migrants, in particular the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families, which the Moroccan state ratified on June 21, 1993." Article 10 of the convention states: "No migrant worker or member of his family shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment."