Sub-Saharan Africans are pawns amidst treaties and negotiations over drugs, fishing rights and the status of Western Sahara. Like the majority of Moroccans who are not endowed with an easy mobility, sub-Saharan migrants are on the losing side of such negotiations. As migration scholar Abdelkrim Belguendouz points in an article denouncing the joint declaration:
“In other words, Morocco is asked to take on the role of the gendarme of Europe to stop migration flows. A role Morocco has always refused to assume (officially) and, according to us, should continue to reject in respect for human rights.”
As noted above, Clément’s death was not an isolated incident. Following the launch of the campaign, other deaths and violent incidents were reported on both sides of the border. In fact, the summer of 2013 was marked by a crescendo of intertwined institutional violence and civil society mobilisation. This peaked with the death of two other migrants.
