More than 10,000 victims in 2024, including a growing proportion of women and children. This is the terrible assessment drawn up by the Human Rights Observatory of Ca-Minando Fronteras in its latest report. “ The increase observed amounts to more than 58% compared to last year, with a total of 10,457 victims […] While the average was 18 victims per day in 2023, it increases to 30 people in 2024. » A humanitarian crisis which is worsening, particularly on the Atlantic routes, where Morocco occupies a central position.
The vulnerability of women and children I lost my two children, the only ones I had. I had to close their eyes and throw them into the sea. […] We asked for help, but no one came to our aid. We stayed at sea for 11 days. My children were getting weaker and weaker, I gave them my share of food, but they were dying. They died in my arms. » This chilling testimony illustrates the tragedy that plays out daily at sea.
Women, who represent between 10 and 20% of passengers, often flee extreme situations: forced marriages, sexual violence, chronic poverty and armed conflicts. Their exodus exposes them to new dangers: sexual exploitation, human trafficking and degrading living conditions in transit countries.
Children, accompanied or unaccompanied, are particularly affected. The report indicates a significant increase in the number of minors on these routes in 2024, particularly via Mauritania and Morocco. Coming from conflict zones or regions affected by climate change, many succumb to hunger or thirst during the crossing.
Morocco at the heart of the issues As a major transit country, Morocco crystallizes the tensions between policies of externalization of European borders and the protection of human rights. The failures are multiple: under-equipped maritime rescue operations, lack of coordination between countries, boats in distress ignored for days. The report also points to practices of criminalization of migrants: arbitrary arrests, expulsions to desert areas and violence.
Towards an overhaul of migration policies
Faced with this “necroborder”, Ca-Minando Fronteras calls for urgent changes:
- Strengthening search and rescue resources
- Implementation of specific protocols for women and children
- Abandoning the criminalization of migrants in favor of an approach centered on human rights
The agreements between the European Union and Morocco, focused mainly on controlling migratory flows, must be rethought to place human dignity at the heart of priorities. A vital necessity as the human toll continues to rise.
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