Spain Deports 20 Moroccan Migrants, Including Rif Activists, After Asylum Rejections

The two Rif Moroccans, aged 21 and 24, arrived by boat in Spain on January 18, with other members of the Rif Hirak movement, after being rescued on the coast of Granada.

"On Tuesday, they came to the migrant detention center (CIE) at midnight. They had us take the Covid test, and the next day they gave us the deportation orders, handcuffed us and immediately took us to the Barajas airport in Madrid," said one of the young deportees, who had already spent more than a month in the Center.

The two young men, handcuffed, were first transferred by plane to Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, before being transported, with 18 other Moroccan illegal immigrants, on another plane to Laayoune. Once there, the two young men were subjected to lengthy questioning by the Moroccan police. They were then released and sent home by bus to Al Hoceima.

An independent study revealed that in the second half of 2020, at least 1766 people from the Rif region illegally arrived on the southern coasts of Spain. According to Frontex data, 17,057 immigrants, including 3,566 Moroccans, arrived in Spain via the "Mediterranean route" in 2020. For its part, the Red Cross counted 1,789 arrivals in Motril, southern Spain, about half of whom were Moroccans.