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They are ready to do the most menial jobs as long as they are paid in Euros when you change that into Nigerian Naira its big money. And they are unconcerned about racism and the rise of right-wing parties in Europe.

All Africans tend to be lumped together in the popular Moroccan imagination as diseased criminals, and women as sex workers, says Arroud of ASTICUDE.

The November 2012 cover of the weekly newspaper Maroc Hebdo was infamously headlined the black peril.

Although there seems to be a growing state-led attempt to promote integration, social interactions among migrants and Moroccans remain limited, notes Katherina Natter of Oxford Universitys International Migration Institute.

Earlier this month, one migrant died and another was seriously injured when police evicted non-nationals from the Boukhalef district of the port city of Tangier. Those rounded up were forced on to buses south to Rabat and Taroudant.

GADEM condemned the discriminatory evictions and hateful online articles that appeared a few weeks before the police operation, attacking migrants. Its statement said it was concerned by the increasingly intolerant climate in Morocco, as well as by the hatred directed towards black non-nationals.

Moroccan authorities seem to assume that all black residents of Boukhalef are squatting, while some are legal leaseholders or at least have informal agreements with their landlords, the statement added.

Last year, a Senegalese student was murdered in Tangier in tensions between local communities and migrants.

The Spanish human rights worker points to the illegality under international law of Spains hot return of migrants to Morocco; the absolutely disproportionate use of violence by the security forces on both sides of the border; and the bussing of those detained in Morocco to south-western cities regardless of whether they have refugee status or asylum claims.

Regularisation cant be used to hide the lack of human rights, he tells me. The constant pressure from Spain and Europe conditions the political response from Morocco towards migrants.

There is a contradiction in the liberalism of the reforms announced by the king and the raid on migrant camps in Mount Gourougou, the official language of cleaning the northern border, and the ever-tightening security protocols with Spain, notesNatter.

The government announced in February that all Carte de Sjour willautomatically be extended when they expire. But Arroud doesn'tbelieve thegovernment will allow anotherregularisation roundfornew applicants, orrevisit the cases rejected last year by the opaque vetting tribunals.

I think its done if the king makes a general amnesty, thats the only way forward, he tells me. This Islamic government introduced the criteria for regularisation. The government is racist, and it thinks all migrants are Christians and is afraid of them.

But migration is also a domestic political issue, and the reforms and new language of integration came out of the blue, in a country in which migrants had previously been portrayed as a threat.

Two important new laws, on migration - which should integratethepolicy approaches -and asylum, are yet to be tabled in parliament.

Natter argues the confusion on the way ahead reflects the characteristic ambiguity of Moroccan migration policies, which seek to simultaneously satisfy European, African and domestic policy interests.

The frustration of the almost endless waiting,the anxiety generated by poverty and circumstances, are common burdens for migrants to contend with, says Vaquero, the psychologist.

Im really surprised how [mentally] strong they are. When they leave their countries they believe they have to do what they have to do [to reach their destination]. They wont take a step back until they have no more strength left. And they are not fighting for an impossible dream

Its important to give them hope, she adds, because crashing here [with only limited mental health services] is completely different from crashing in Italy.

Beneath the bravado of the men on Selouane the no surrender, only the strong survive is a realisation of the wasted years. Those conversations usually begin with If I had known , and after a litany of tribulations, the conclusion is invariably, resignedly, that the journey was not worth the pain.

But also that there can be no turning back.

I wont say that I made a mistake, because this is school, says Arnold. We have a belief that we will get to Europe, and if we dont fulfill it, well never have rest.

There is solidarity among the migrants, eager for anyone among them to make it to Europe. Its good for the morale, says Lamine. If you spend one or two months and nobody crosses, you see everybody depressed. But if you hear that someone you were with yesterday is in Europe, it tells you that you can make it as well.

oa/ha

Continue reading here:
Morocco: The forgotten frontline of the migrant crisis IRIN