Module 085 · Human Movement
Migration
Routes
13 kilometres separate Morocco from Spain at the Strait's narrowest point. Four routes. Six transit cities. The border politics of three continents.
The Routes — Mapped
001 — The Routes
Four Corridors
Western Mediterranean Route
Sub-Saharan West and Central Africa (Guinea, Côte d'Ivoire, Mali, Cameroon, Senegal, DRC) via internal African routes through Mauritania, Mali, Niger, or Algeria
Oujda (from Algeria, eastern border) or through Mauritania and up the Atlantic coast
~13 km sea crossing at the Strait. The fence at Melilla: three barriers of 6m, 3m, and 6m height over 7.5 miles
In 2018, 56,000+ reached Spain via this route — the year's most active route. Morocco prevents 45,000+ crossings in 2024. Since the 2022 Melilla massacre, overland crossings have decreased; more attempt sea routes or redirect via Algeria to Tunisia.
13 kilometres separate Morocco from Spain at the Strait's narrowest point. Migrants cross by small boats (pateras), rubber dinghies, jet skis, or by swimming. This route also includes overland crossings into the Spanish enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla.
Oujda → Nador (Melilla fence) or Tetouan/Fnideq (Ceuta fence) or Tangier (Strait of Gibraltar by sea)
Drowning in the Strait (2,000–4,000 died between 1991–1996 alone). Violence at fence crossings. Razor wire. Tear gas. Security force beatings. Pushbacks. Hypothermia in winter sea crossings
002 — Transit Cities
The Waiting Rooms
Oujda
Eastern gateway
Main entry from Algeria. Hub for trafficking networks. Makeshift camps (dismantled 2015). Migrants deported here repeatedly — some bused back 30+ times over a decade. Catholic Church provides aid.
Key deportation destination & entry point. UNHCR/MSF presence.
Nador
Gateway to Melilla
Less than 16 km from Melilla. Gourougou forest camp dismantled 2015. Site of the June 2022 massacre (~23 killed). Regular raids. Women/children vulnerable to trafficking. Morocco's only detention centres nearby.
"Repressive atmosphere towards illegalised black migrants." Extremely difficult to find informal work.
Tangier
Strait departure point
Principal departure for sea crossings. Boukhalef neighborhood known as "the Africans neighborhood." Belyounech forest staging camp destroyed 2019. More economic opportunity than border towns.
Both transit and increasingly a destination. Community organizations and informal churches active.
Casablanca
Economic hub & air entry
Largest city. Airport main formal entry (visa-free for many Africans). Ouled Ziane bus station: hundreds camp in streets and construction sites. Greater opportunity but also raids and forced displacement southward.
Highest concentration of foreign residents (2024 census). Civil society most active.
Rabat
Capital & institutional hub
UNHCR offices, NGOs, policymaking centre. West/Central African community neighborhoods with informal Pentecostal/Protestant churches. African Migration Observatory established here.
Most institutional support. Universities draw 55% sub-Saharan student residents.
Tetouan/Fnideq
Gateway to Ceuta
Less than 40 km from Ceuta. Second-choice for fence attempts. Belyounech forest camp destroyed in 2019 crackdown. Security cordon now prevents new gatherings.
Diminished transit role since 2019.
Fez
Central transit hub
Waypoint between Oujda and northern coast. Migrants pass through or are forcefully relocated here from border areas. UNHCR Protection Working Group active.
Growing migrant community.
Marrakech
Southern destination
Increasingly a destination. University students from sub-Saharan Africa. UNHCR presence. Less hostile than border towns. Among the top eight cities for migrant concentration.
Growing community. Protection Working Group active.
Bodies seldom recovered. Families never notified. The Mediterranean is not a border. It is a graveyard.
003 — Framework
Key
Concepts
Transit Country → Destination Country
بلد العبور ← بلد الإقامةMorocco's transformation since the 1990s. Once purely emigration, then transit for sub-Saharans heading to Europe, now increasingly a destination as European borders harden. An estimated 700,000 sub-Saharan Africans live in Morocco — most in precarious conditions.
EU Externalisation
إخراج الحدود الأوروبيةThe EU policy of pushing border enforcement to non-EU countries. Morocco is the "testing ground." Billions in EU funding for surveillance, fencing, coast guard, "migration management." Critics: it outsources human rights violations.
SNIA
الاستراتيجية الوطنية للهجرة واللجوءNational Strategy on Immigration and Asylum (2014). Born from the 2013 CNDH report and royal endorsement. Two regularisation campaigns (50,000), three draft laws (only trafficking law adopted). Hailed internationally but implementation incomplete.
Harraga
الحراقة"Those who burn" — Moroccan Arabic for irregular migrants who "burn" documents and "burn" borders. Originally for Moroccans crossing to Europe. Evokes desperation: burning the past to pursue an uncertain future.
Pushback / Refoulement
الترحيل القسريForcing migrants back without due process, violating international law. Documented at fences, at sea, and internally — migrants bused from northern cities to desert areas and abandoned.
Gourougou Forest
غابة كوروكوForest camp near Nador, <16 km from Melilla. For years, hundreds waited here to storm fences. Dismantled 2015. Memorialised in Alexander-Nathani's "Burning at Europe's Borders."
Global Compact for Migration
الميثاق العالمي للهجرةAdopted in Marrakech, December 2018. Morocco took leadership. First inter-governmental agreement covering all dimensions of international migration. Non-binding.
Regularisation
تسوية الوضعيةGranting legal residence to undocumented migrants. Two campaigns: 2014 (~27,000 applications) and 2016–17 (~27,660). ~50,000 total. All women and children approved. But renewal remains difficult.
004 — Chronology
Policy Timeline
Spain introduces visa requirement for Moroccans under EU pressure — triggering mass boat crossings of the Strait
2,000–4,000 drown in the Strait of Gibraltar. It becomes "the largest mass grave in post-war Europe"
Spain signs Schengen. Spanish-Moroccan Readmission Agreement — one of the first EU-third country readmission deals. ~30,000 cross the Strait
Algeria-Morocco border formally closed (remains closed). First fences erected at Ceuta and Melilla
Morocco adopts Law 02-03 criminalising irregular migration. First comprehensive immigration legislation
Ceuta and Melilla crisis: hundreds storm fences, at least 11 die. Morocco raids forests, buses migrants to desert. Watershed moment for civil society
New constitution: national identity diversity, non-discrimination, right to asylum, equality between nationals and foreigners
MSF withdraws from Morocco citing "gravity and continuity of fundamental human-rights violations" against sub-Saharan Africans
CNDH report: "Foreigners and Human Rights in Morocco." King Mohammed VI endorses, announces "humanitarian approach." Regularisation committee created
First regularisation campaign: ~27,000 applications, ~18,000+ approved. 116 nationalities. All women and children approved. SNIA adopted in December
Second regularisation campaign: ~27,660 applications. Combined total: ~50,000 regularised across both waves
AU Summit designates Morocco to promote African Agenda on Migration. African Migration Observatory established in Rabat
Massive urban crackdown on migrants. EU allocates €140M to Morocco for border management. Western Mediterranean Route peaks: 56,000+. Global Compact adopted in Marrakech
Ceuta crisis: ~8,000 enter (including 2,000 minors) in one night. Moroccan guards absent — seen as political leverage over Spain re: Western Sahara
Melilla massacre: ~2,000 attempt crossing. At least 23 killed, 70+ injured, 70+ missing. Forest camps destroyed. International condemnation
Census: 142,152 foreign nationals (0.4%). Morocco prevents 45,000+ crossings, arrests 177 trafficking gangs. Atlantic route becomes most active (36,000 intercepted). 10,457 dead/missing on Atlantic route — record
005 — By the Numbers
Key Numbers
Strait of Gibraltar at narrowest. Between 1991–96, 2,000–4,000 drowned here. The most patrolled waterway in the world
Recorded deaths and disappearances on all African migration routes since 2014 — undoubtedly an incomplete figure
EU funding to Morocco in 2018 alone for "border management." Morocco: testing ground for EU border externalisation
Of all foreign residents: Senegalese, Ivorians, Guineans, Malians (2024 census). Sub-Saharan Africans are the largest migrant group
Moroccan-born emigrants abroad (2024). Morocco is origin, transit, AND destination — a migration transition country
Per capita income gap: north of the Ceuta/Melilla border vs south. The deepest economic divide at any EU-Africa land border
Sources
"African Migration Trends 2024/2025." Interception data, Atlantic route statistics, EU interdiction, origin countries
"A Growing Destination for Sub-Saharan Africans." Morocco's transition. 700,000 sub-Saharan estimates
"Sub-Saharan African Migrants in Morocco" (2026). 2024 census: 142,152 foreign nationals, 59.9% from four nationalities
Morocco profile. EU externalisation. Transit cities. Gourougou/Belyounech camps. Security operations
SNIA history. Regularisation campaigns. CNDH report. MSF withdrawal. Draft laws status
"Between Raids and Regularisations." Regularisation analysis. Civil society advocacy
Melilla massacre (June 2022). Ceuta crisis (May 2021). Western Mediterranean Route analysis
Regularisation campaign figures. Morocco migration profile. Remittance data
9,094 refugees, 9,784 asylum seekers. Syria, Guinea, Senegal, Sudan, Côte d'Ivoire. Six-city Protection Working Groups
Route mapping. Mortality data. 2024 Atlantic route record. Caminando Fronteras data