Statement on the Deportations in Morrocco

In the name of commitments made to the EU, migrants and refugees are rounded up in Morocco. English translation by Yasha Maccanico, Statewatch)

At dawn on 23 December 2006, between two and four hundred migrants were rounded up in several neighbourhoods in Rabat (Morocco), placed in minibuses and taken by force to the Algerian border. On 25 December, round-ups also took place in Nador (in the east of the country). Women and young children were also taken, as were numerous asylum seekers and people with recognised refugee status granted by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Little over a year after the events in Ceuta and Melilla in autumn 2005, the scene of mass deportations of sub-Saharan migrants that provoked the indignation of the international community, large-scale round-ups and deportations in the name of the protection of Europe borders are again on the agenda in a country where, on a daily basis, the rights of migrants and of people in need of international protection are scorned.

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