They had come from all over the country and met in Fnideq, a town bordering the Spanish enclave of Ceuta. Their aim: was to outflank the border guards and reach Spanish territory by swimming or by land. The event sparked a lively debate in the country, illustrating the dismay of some of the youth. The event sparked a lively debate in the country, illustrating the dismay of some of the youth. One hundred and fifty-two people were brought to justice for inciting collective illegal immigration.
The presence of police vans and barriers placed along the seafront is a reminder that Fnideq and its surroundings have remained under close surveillance since September 15. That day, nearly 3,000 people tried to force their way into the Spanish enclave in six separate attempts. Driss was one of them. He responded to messages posted on social media: “I saw the calls on all social media: Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp groups, everyone was talking about September 15, everyone met in Fnideq.”
With his meager savings, he travels more than 400 km to reach the north of the country: “I came from Meknes to here because I want to live a good life, save my mother from poverty, and earn money (…) Here, there is nothing, no money, no work.”
Distance or repression
In his tracksuit, his gaze fixed on the autonomous city of Ceuta, a rocky peak a few kilometers away, Driss remembers that day when the police forces, present in large numbers, stopped the candidates for departure, some of whom had put on wetsuits to throw themselves into the sea to swim to Ceuta. “The police had put up barriers everywhere, a soldier was violently beaten, and chaos set in. The police started beating everyone, they sent me to Beni Mellel. They didn’t lock me up, they just left me in Beni Mellel and left me there all alone.”
Beni Mellel is 500 kilometers further south. Removal, or internal refoulement, is a method to dissuade these young candidates from regular immigration.
“People are dying”
Mounir, a 20-year-old Algerian, returned to Fnideq a few days later. The young man has already tried to swim seven times: “I returned to Ceuta, I swam, 5 kilometers, but it’s too hard, you have to manage. If you swim well and have strength in your arms, you can do it.”
Arrested and expelled upon his arrival in Spain, he is already thinking about his next departure. In August, his exploits were filmed in a video that went around the country, making others in Morocco want to take the sea despite the risks. “People are dying, brother,” Mounir says. “I know people who have died from it.”
Since the beginning of the year, Moroccan police claim to have prevented more than 45,000 illegal entries into Spain. A policy recently praised by the Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares.
