If you have ever thought of traveling by road, you will have a rethink by the time you are done with this post.
Refuge Network International, a humanitarian NGO recently paid a visit to two African migrant camps in Morocco,where we encountered hundreds of disillusioned suffering black migrants stranded in the north African nation on their way to Europe.Majority of the estimated 40,000 illegal immigrants in Morocco are blacks from Nigeria,Cameroon,Ghana and francophone countries.
Many migrants live in forests,mountains and makeshift camps in conditions so bad that even animals might find it challenging surviving there.All that separates the inhabitants from the harsh unforgiving north African weather are small improvised huts made up of a combination of polyethylene material,cardboard paper,pieces of stones,sticks and damaged car tyres.
There are no toilets,no clearly defined cooking areas,no medical facilities,no electricity supply,no pipe borne water,and absolutely no proper infrastructure whatsoever.When they need to answer the call of nature,they simply do it out in the open field right next to where they sleep,shielded only by tall grasses and a few trees.Cooking is also largely done in the open with dry wood collected from the area.
There are men,women,children and even babies eating,sleeping and somehow carving out an existence here.Without proper documentation and without jobs,their options are pretty limited.The majority spend the day begging for money from passing cars in town.Time is also spent scavenging for food from bins and from kind-hearted Moroccans.The situation is so depressing that it has left some mentally deranged.
Others get lured into a life of crime.They resort to human trafficking,drug peddling and cyber crimes.
Frustrated,defeated and suffering,some have given up the dream and would like to return back to their home countries.But they are completely stranded, with no hope of going forward towards Europe,no funds to go back to their own countries,and no prospect of settling down permanently in Morocco.
