Thousands of Moroccans Surge Toward Ceuta : Makhzen Uses Youth’s Misery to Leverage Pressure on Spain
In a dramatic escalation, thousands of Moroccans attempted to cross into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta from the northern Moroccan city of Fnideq on Sunday evening. This mass migration has raised serious questions about the motivations behind the movement, with many observers suggesting that the Makhzen regime is exploiting its citizens’ hardships to exert political pressure on Spain. Videos shared by Moroccan activists and local media depict chaotic scenes, with Moroccan security forces chasing young, desperate migrants seeking to escape extreme poverty. These individuals, unable to find dignified living conditions in Morocco due to the Makhzen’s despotic policies, turned to the Mediterranean as a refuge.
As the night progressed, local media reported that numerous Moroccan families gathered at the border crossing, anxiously searching for missing relatives. The uncertainty surrounding their fate—whether they had been detained, deported, or succeeded in crossing—was palpable. Many young people were seen hiding in the mountains, waiting for another opportunity to breach the heavily guarded frontier. Initial estimates indicate that nearly 5,000 Moroccans were arrested following an anonymous call for collective migration issued on September 15. Mohamed Benaïssa, president of the Northern Observatory for Democracy, noted that most of those detained were children, minors, and young adults in their early twenties.
Journalist Younès Meskine, in his article “The Moroccan, a Migrant in His Own Country,” highlighted that this migration wave represents more than a quest for economic opportunity. It reflects the profound longing of Moroccan youth for stability and a better life amid widespread unemployment and lack of prospects. Meskine emphasized that the exodus illustrates the Makhzen’s failure to provide essential social protections like housing, employment, and healthcare, forcing young people to risk their lives in search of dignity elsewhere.
Experts believe that the recent surge at the Ceuta border was a calculated move by the Makhzen to pressure Madrid into accommodating Morocco’s political demands, including those related to Western Sahara. The sudden mobilization of migrants, driven by a social media call, appears to be a strategic message from Rabat. Analysts suggest that the Makhzen is signaling to Spain’s government that any actions countering Morocco’s interests will result in waves of clandestine migrants. This tactic is part of a broader strategy, as seen in past instances where Morocco used migration to leverage political gains, including the 2022 crisis and the exploitation of African migrants.
