Thousands of Moroccan Workers Stranded as Spain-Morocco Border Remains Closed

Moroccan cross-border workers no longer know which way to turn. Deprived of their jobs due to the closure of the land borders between Morocco and Spain, more than 8,000 people (waiters, merchants, cleaners or tourism employees), or 3,600 in Sebta and 5,000 in Melilla, are calling on the government.

"Everything is completely at a standstill," laments Mohamed Bouhlal, a 43-year-old father of a family who, like many, is struggling to pay his rent and dreads ending up on the street. "If the border doesn’t reopen, I’ll have no choice but to beg," says Fadwa, a 43-year-old domestic worker who has worked in Sebta for 18 years, less than ten kilometers from her home. Meanwhile, the bustling commercial town of Fnideq is in a great lethargy this season, while before the border closures, "everything was very simple, since an agreement between Morocco and Spain exempted cross-border workers from a visa," notes Chakib Merouane, the general secretary of Moroccan workers in Sebta, who says that "the situation is serious".

Already in a precarious situation, Moroccan cross-border workers must also fully suffer the consequences of the crisis related to the coronavirus pandemic. A situation that, according to official figures, could plunge more than a million vulnerable people in Morocco into poverty, bringing the poverty rate in this country of 35 million inhabitants to 20%, according to AFP.

Moreover, these Moroccans deprived of employment by the closure of land borders with Spain regret not having been taken into account by the program of aid provided by the State for three months to nearly six million distressed families due to the coronavirus. Worse, the promise of building a commercial area as part of a reconversion program has so far been relegated to the Greek Calends by the authorities.