Deaths, deportations and arrests: violence against migrants in Morocco – reporting for Open Democracy from a collective member, on how EU policy blocks routes to Europe for those suffering from the neocolonial and capitalist exploitation and nurturing of conflicts throughout Africa by western countries.
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No Borders Morocco is part of the wider No Border Network, and organises according to the principles of non-hierarchy, anti-racism, solidarity and diversity of actions. We are a grass-root organisation, which is why we always need financial and personal support. If you can donate some money, please get in touch:
nobordersmorocco@riseup.net
If you can get involved personally, we are looking for people who Continue reading
A new project to give witness to the situation of migrants in North Africa
There are currently tens of thousands of migrants, trapped in Morocco due
to EU border policies, most of them unable to return home because of
poverty and persecution and unable to cross into mainland Europe. Since
2012 No Borders Morocco has been in contact with migrants trapped at the
Moroccan-Spanish border. The aim is to support and show solidarity with
migrants and raise awareness of their situation.
In order to document, record and bear witness to the atrocities that are
taking place at our borders, paid for by the European tax payer. No Border
Morrocco is aiming to provide some technical support to migrants so
they can record, upload, publish and share their journeys.
No Borders Morocco is calling on people to send their spare technical
equipment to them to help support migrants. In particular
– audio visual recording equipment (also for music), SD cards, usb
sticks, mobile phones, laptops, hard drives
More information on No Borders Morocco and the situation in link.
To support this project please contact nobordersmorocco@riseup.net
Things ALWAYS needed
practical stuff: sleeping bags, mattresses, tents, clothes, household utensils, any electronic gear
medicine and life vests
Also: instruments, especially guitar, microphone, Dictaphone, cameras (for recording music and statements).
Please try to gather from friends/communities where you live and bring these things when you go.
The school
The migrant kids have no opportunity to go to school, because they are not registered as Moroccan citizens, so people self-organise to teach them : A Senegalese man started teaching the kids, and wants to make it more of a proper school. It would be great to have some financial and material support for this. Continue reading
Hello,
because of the numerous raids against the migrants in the past days in Morocco, the transnational network Afrique-Europe-Interact has written – on the basis of different reports from Marocco (among them the Communiqué which was initiated by the Council of subsaharian migrants in Morocco) a protest letter which can be sent via mail, fax or e-mail to the Moroccan ambassy in Berlin (or any other embassy):
Poste: Botschaft des Königreichs Marokko, Niederwallstraße 39, 10117 Berlin; Fax: +49 (0) 30 20 61 24 20; E-Mail: kontakt@botschaft-marokko.de Continue reading
There are many projects that No Borders Morocco activists would like to set up to aid the struggles of migrants in Morocco against the EU border control regime, but which we have not been able to do yet due to lack of funding.
Such projects include:
If you are able to help raise funds for these or other projects related to the aims of No Borders Morocco then please get in touch at nobordersmorocco@riseup.net. All contributions are welcome however small.
Imagine living for years in a country that you only ever wanted to pass through, where people throw stones at you on the street for the colour of your skin, and where you know the police will get handsomely paid for arbitrarily detaining you.
That’s the situation that thousands of migrants from West Africa find themselves in currently in Morocco. Because of the proximity of the Moroccan port city of Tangiers to the European mainland, and because Spain, an EU country, is occupying two cities (Ceuta and Melilla) on the North coast of Moroccom thus creating a land border, this predominantly Arab country is a major migration routes for predominantly Black West Africans seeking a better life in Europe.
The majority of these migrants intend merely on working in Europe, legally or illegally, until they have saved up enough to be able to return to their home countries and improve the conditions of life for their families. The dedication of these mostly young men to their families’ future wellbeing is incredible: many of them are the sole hope for their entire extended family, which has often invested all it has and gotten into debt in order to finance their journey.
Download Beating the borders printable PDF
At the moment there is not really anything equating to a No Borders movement in either Spain or Morocco. There are some charitable associations and activist groups in solidarity with migrants and they are connected across the border to some extent. But they have certain legal limitations about what they can and can’t support.
From an anti-capitalist and anti-state perspective though, there should be no limits to human solidarity or direct action to create a fairer and freer world. If a government’s laws try to prevent such things then it simply means we have to work outside of the law.
One obvious example of something which would drastically improve the humanitarian situation but which legal associations are unable to fund would be the provision of life jackets and good quality boats to migrants trying to cross the sea. Many migrants suffer in Morocco for years trying to hustle up enough money to afford a space on a boat that is often overcrowded and extremely likely to sink.
When they do sink, migrants often either drown to death or are “rescued” by the Moroccan police who bring them back under conditions of torture. If they are rescued by the Spanish Red Cross or even the Spanish Police they are likely to end up in a better situation, but to have to almost die in the first place is obviously not something anyone wants to go through.
The provision of life-jackets, life boats and other materials to make crossing the border easier requires raising money clandestinely in ways that can’t be traced back to any individuals, because helping migrants to cross the border would be considered illegal. If you have ideas about how you can help in such efforts then get in touch, from an email address that cannot be traced to your name, at nobordersmorocco@riseup.net. Do not email us with any information relating to specific criminal acts which have either already taken place or which are being concretely planned.
Migrants crossing the border in itself is a form of direct action against the border. The clandestine organizing involved on the part of migrants and anyone who helps them contributes towards making border controls less effective, because when successful it means they failing to do what they are supposed to. Migration across this border simply cannot be stopped, because the factors driving it are too powerful for any government to put an end to. The more governments realize this and stop bothering to invest manpower and resources in maintaining them, the more the humanitarian situation will improve.
The fact is, governments and their employees are not nearly so effective or loyal to their official proclamations as they would have us believe. Even if governments continue to make “policies” against immigration, in practice their actual border guards may not be working particularly hard, especially if the numbers of migrants making it across keeps getting higher and higher. We are not looking for changes in laws, we are looking for changes in facts on the ground, and these can be best brought about through direct action.
This is not to say that more “indirect” action does not have it’s place too. People organizing demonstrations, writing articles, handing out leaflets and dropping banners can definitely help raise awareness and help to challenge the mainstream racist/nationalist discourse around borders. But these efforts should be based around this function of raising awareness, not kid themselves that they are somehow going to change government policy.
We don’t want to convince the general public to vote for a different party or lobby for a change in the law. We want them to realize the law is fundamentally wrong and needs to be resisted until it becomes unworkable. Resistance has no time scale, unlike general elections or parliamentary procedures, and anyone can start right away.
If you agree with this general attitude towards the situation, whatever you describe you’re politics as, you are probably the kind of person we want to get in touch with us. If you are already connected to activist groups or networks you think could help then all the better, but even if not, please email us at nobordersmorocco@riseup.net
If you are also the kind of person for whom it would be relatively easy to visit us in Tangiers, Morocco and help directly with what we are trying to do, then we especially want to hear from you. If you come and see us it won’t be all doom and gloom, we can guarantee it. Tangiers is a weird and wonderful place where there is always some surreal, hilarious madness going on, despite the tragedy of the border situation. We can provide crashpad accommodation, food and live musical entertainment. Just don’t come expecting to be told exactly what you can do to help, because we won’t be able to know that till you’ve been there a while.
Our email address in nobordersmorocco@riseup.net
No Borders Morocco 