Thousands of Moroccan Farmworkers Stranded in Spain After Harvest Season

In a letter sent to the Moroccan ambassador to Spain, Karima Benyaich, and the Spanish ambassador to Morocco, Ricardo Díez-Hochleitner, the two organizations stated that after the end of the strawberry campaign, the workers "found themselves without work and without alternative or benefit to allow them to preserve their human dignity". The APDHA and the AMDH claim that the travel expenses for the return of these workers are the responsibility of the Moroccan and Spanish states, the latter being financially reduced.

They also demanded that the Moroccan government proceed with the screening of all the workers, and inform them of the need to undergo a 14-day quarantine upon their arrival in order to preserve the health of their families.

In addition, the two organizations have called for an investigation into the shared responsibility between Spain and Morocco, on the economic and social conditions and the psychological effects of the border closures and confinement suffered by these workers who "have been exploited by those seeking cheap labor, without consideration of the human dignity of these women who are exploited, ignored and forgotten," they add in their letter.

For these organizations, it is urgent to proceed with a radical revision of the recruitment agreement between the Moroccan Ministry of Employment and Professional Integration, the National Agency for the Promotion of Employment and Skills, on the one hand, and the Ministry of Labor, Immigration and Social Security of Spain, and the Government of Andalusia, on the other, in order to guarantee rights and decent work for these workers.