Despite a year marked by successive
tragedies as a result of the recrudescence of repression, institutional
violence and racism, will 2013 mark a historical turn for politics of migration
in Morocco? Will foreigners and migrants be recognized into society?” These
questions headed an article by Micheline Bochet Milon, a member of the Groupe
anti-raciste d’accompagnement et de défense des étrangers et des migrants
(GADEM), in the last issue of the Louna-Tounkaranké network’s newsletter. At
the time, migrants’ associations and NGOs were wedged between hope and caution
as several important changes unravelled in Morocco. The most important of these
was the unprecedented announcement of an “exceptional” regularization process
for “irregular” migrants (e.g. those who lacked appropriate residency
documents). Alas, distressing events in Morocco and at the Spanish border,
including the very recent death of at least fifteen migrants outside Ceuta,
have rendered even more salient migrants’ yearning for the respect of their
rights.
