'Morocco has given me nothing': The young migrants risking everything to reach Ceuta

In recent days, the Spanish enclave of Ceuta has been grappling with a mass migrant crisis. According to the latest figures 72,000 people entered the territory irregularly from Morocco last week. The Spanish government says 70,000 people have since been returned.

Speculation on what caused the unprecedented migration crossing, which began on 31 July, on King Mohammed VI’s Throne Day, has been mounting, so far without any clear answers or accountability.

Some say it was a kneejerk reaction from Morocco, following Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s recent visit to Algeria. Other commentators claim Israel or the US is involved due to Spain’s solid stance against the genocide in Gaza and the war on Iran.

What is clear is that thousands of people, including around 8,000 children, felt they had no choice but to risk their lives in the fight for a better future. At least 141 people have died in the crossing, with the figure expected to rise.

Morocco’s Association for Human Rights (AMDH) released a statement saying the “harrowing scenes” on the border “reflect the profound despair among young people, fuelled by the lack of prospects, endemic corruption, the rise of authoritarianism, the absence of social justice, and the lack of employment opportunities and decent living conditions”.

The AMDH attributed “full responsibility to the Moroccan state” for the exodus, comparing the situation to one it would expect to see in war and conflict zones.

Morocco’s Ministry of the Interior said on 1 August that it blamed the migration surge on a misinterpretation of data spread on social media, and human trafficking networks that took advantage of the decision on 8 July by a Spanish Supreme Court to ban the immediate return of migrants arriving by sea.

'The Moroccan border security stood back and watched us cross'

–

Hamza, 19

Carla Hobbs, head of the Madrid Office and policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR), disputes this statement, saying: “It would have been very hard for this to happen without Moroccan complicity.”

While Hobbs agrees that the immediate trigger appears to have been a viral online campaign following the court ruling, she also pointed to the timing of the crisis.

Just 10 days earlier Sanchez had travelled to Algeria, which is at odds with Morocco because of Algiers' support for the Polisario Front's bid for independence in Western Sahara.

“The reduced border controls; migrants' own accounts that their authorities encouraged them to cross; and the fit with a well-established pattern of Moroccan migration coercion – all points to Moroccan complicity,” she told Middle East Eye.

‘Spanish and Moroccan police helped us cross’

Hamza, a 19-year-old from Kenitra who walked around 41 kilometres from Tetouan to Ceuta, told MEE that Moroccan guards encouraged migrants: “The Moroccan border security stood back and watched us cross; they would tell us, ‘Go on, hurry up, get into the water.’”

Hamza noted that violence only occurred if migrants hesitated: “Then Moroccan police would hit migrants with a stick,” shouting, “If you don’t want to go across, go back home.”

Spanish guards were also receptive: “They'd say, ‘Give me your hand, get up, climb up!’"

Refusing to return, Hamza explained, “Even if they try to force me, I will never go back. Morocco has not given me anything.”

Despite holding diplomas, he added, “Morocco doesn’t value them. You can work for just a few dirham even in a big city; that’s why we fled.”

Asmae, 23, from Casablanca, hitchhiked to Ceuta after seeing Instagram posts about the crossing. She agreed that authorities were passive: “The Moroccan police treated migrants well; they didn’t beat us as long as you don’t cause fights or problems, they talk to you calmly and diplomatically.”

Asmae noted that people “leave of their own free will; the police won’t grab you or beat you”.

The latest wave of migrants consists mostly of young Moroccans like Asmae and Hamza. According to Hobbs, this marks a strategic shift from historic border-crossing attempts, which were typically led by sub-Saharan migrants fighting Moroccan police.

Pointing to a similar anomaly during the 2021 crisis, when thousands entered the Ceuta enclave amid a diplomatic dispute between Spain and Morocco over Western Sahara, Hobbs highlighted that recent reports from The New York Times show that "Moroccan police did not let sub-Saharans through, while letting Moroccans pass [into Ceuta]."

A dream turned nightmare

Another young Moroccan, Younes, made the journey like thousands of others, full of hope. Despite his bachelor’s degree and knowledge of multiple languages, he says there is nothing for him in Morocco.

“I felt like in Ceuta I would finally get an opportunity in life,” he told MEE.

As Younes swam across the last stretch before reaching Ceuta, he saw three teenagers die in the water. “Who knows if their parents know that they are gone,” he said.

Upon arriving in Ceuta, Younes felt “unmatched happiness”. The feeling was short-lived, as he was beaten by the authorities.

He quickly noticed all the stores in Ceuta were closed and there was no water: “People are suffering; people arrived and collapsed unconscious, some people were threatened by guns.”

Younes’ dream quickly turned into a nightmare: “My dream was to get in, and now I swear to god I advise every parent to not send their kids here,” he said, warning of the risk of violence.

Family members are still waiting at the border, trying to find out whether their loved ones made it across or not. Najaat, a mother of six, is one of them. She told MEE that three of her children tried to reach Ceuta. Two of her girls, aged 12 and 13, took their birth certificates and wrote down their mother’s phone number before they fled.

Their mother, inconsolable with worry, said: “They told me they would call me, but I haven’t heard anything. I just want to know if they got in safely, and to know if my son [aged 14] is dead or alive.

Najaat expressed deep fear for her daughters and the risk of sexual violence. “I work to take care of my children; I don’t want them to emigrate like this. I deprive myself of things to give to my children,” she said.

‘They’re fleeing hell’

No Name Kitchen (NNK), an NGO that responds when migration flows shift or bottlenecks occur, is on the ground and has witnessed the authorities using what NNK coordinator Ric Fernandez describes as irregular return processes.

“We've seen the army use ‘trawling’ tactics, forming human chains of people to force them toward the border with shoves, kicks, shouting and insults, threatening to beat them further if they didn't move,” Fernandez told MEE.

NNK has filmed police beatings; Fernandez said it has been happening “at night and out of sight, when people refuse to board the trucks being used for group deportations”.

He described the situation as “appalling”, saying that no one, including the police, the Guardia Civil or the military, “asks people how they are, what they need, or why they came to Spain... Even though we sense they're fleeing hell, the priority is to send them straight back into it.”

The NNK team is helping by mobilising resources and connecting migrants with accommodation. Fernandez said that it had to scale up its normal four-person team in Ceuta to 18 members.

One of the toughest challenges has been reaching vulnerable people who are hiding in the mountains and warehouses, he added. “NNK doesn’t want to be followed by the police and be the bait that gives away their location. That's not our role,” he said.

Fernandez noted that a massive legal documentation effort is under way to record all the cases of vulnerable people entitled to seek international protection.

“NNK’s biggest concern is that by the time those cases are reviewed and legally upheld, those people will already be gone, returned, or will have suffered the worst possible consequences. But we won't give up,” he said.

‘The Spanish government won’t forget’

Spain and Morocco have been steadily rebuilding ties after relations broke down in 2021, when Madrid allowed Polisario Front leader Brahim Ghali to receive medical treatment, angering Rabat over the Western Sahara dispute.

Recent events are expected to leave relations “smooth on the surface but worsened underneath”, Hobbs said.

'I felt like in Ceuta I would finally get an opportunity in life'

– Younes

The official line “is never to blame Morocco publicly”, Hobbs added, as Spain needs the kingdom in the medium-long term, for migration and security operations in general.

However, she emphasised that: “This latest [migration] move will not be forgotten by the Spanish government, particularly with Spanish elections approaching and the images perfect fodder for Vox,” Spain’s far-right anti-immigration party.

Describing the bilateral relationship as deeply asymmetric, Hobbs noted: “There is not much left for Madrid to concede after changing its position on the Western Sahara following the last round of coercion.”

From Rabat’s perspective, Hobbs said: “I would find the EU's immediate response very encouraging – it confirmed that migration pressure costs very little, producing no unified European response. There is no reason why Morocco would not use that lever again.”