Young Moroccan Immigrants Share Struggles and Dreams in Spain

"I will be happy when I have a job," Mohamed Hajjaj replied when asked if he was able to realize his dream by arriving in Spain. His compatriots Jamal Benfatih and Jad Atwane agree. The three immigrated to Spain when they were between 14 and 16 years old. Today, they are between 18 and 19 years old, reports Hoy.

During a conference organized by the Cerujovi association on the migration of adolescents and children, they share their experiences. The goal is to educate and put all the difficulties of this process on the table. "We want to bring reality beyond stereotypes, it’s very hard to cross the border at 13 or 14 years old, it’s not a whim, there is pain, families get into debt," explains Katarzyna Reyes, coordinator of Cerujovi.

Mohamed, from Fnideq, left his city in 2019 at the age of 15. For him, the experience of migration has made them more mature in a way. Like his two compatriots, he obtained a residence permit and does not regret having immigrated to Spain. At the age of 16, Jamal entered Melilla from Nador and spent nearly two years in a minor center before joining housing in Casar de Cáceres. Jad, for his part, lived this experience as "hell". A native of Nador, he also spent three years in a minor center in Melilla.

Jad lives in an apartment in Cáceres and Mohamed in Plasencia after passing through the Tecum minor center in Casar de Cáceres, which closed last May. Jamal lives alone in a rented apartment. Mohamed, Jamal and Jad suffer from living far from their loved ones. "We haven’t seen our parents for years, we have siblings or cousins we don’t know," they lament.

In addition to these three young people, Malak, a young minor who lived in the minor center in Ceuta, will tell her story, the migration of girls being still a minority reality and presenting particular characteristics.