Since 2015, when the refugee and migrant crisis hit new highs across the coastal countries of the Mediterranean, the unrestrained activity of numerous non-governmental organizations (NGOs) has been raising questions and concerns.

Sorting Honest NGOs from Imposters

Despite the presence of several acknowledged NGOs which have been clearly assisting in the mitigation of this unique challenge, there has also been a significant number of dubious entities with suspicious motives, literally created once the European Union started providing huge economic and material resources for the tackling of the refugee and migrant problem.

A recent coordinated operation of the Hellenic Police and the National Intelligence Agency of Greece brought to light a grim reality that many have been fearing for a long time: a number of NGOs not only neglected the problem but actually made the situation much worse by working alongside international networks of criminal migrant smuggling groups.

Operation ALKMINI

The joint operation under the codename “Alkmini” started approximately two months earlier around mid-August. Two individuals, recruited by the National Intelligence Service of Greece were sent to the coast of Izmir in Turkey, pretending to be migrants who were willing to illegally enter Greece.

In this context the two recruits established contact with a smuggling network, which offered to take them to Greek territory in exchange for a significant sum of money. The two agents were transferred to the Greek island of Lesbos alongside a number of other asylum seekers. In the process they collected information about the progress of the overall illegal operation and the role of specific NGOs that have been assisting all along.

Modus Operandi for Human Smuggling in the Mediterranean

According to the findings of Operation Alkmini the illegal transfer of these people was coordinated by members of four NGOs with presence in both the Greek and Turkish shores. In this case two women, an Austrian and a Norwegian, both of the working for NGOs, were coordinating the operation from Turkey acting as the link between the smuggling networks in Izmir and the NGO personnel in the Greek islands.

Once the vessels with the smugglers and the asylum seekers were en route, the NGO members in Greece were notified about the time of departure, the estimated time of arrival, and the number of people onboard. Also the exact location of the boats was provided through the ALARMPHONE application. Alarmphone (Watch The Med Alarm Phone Project) is a hotline for boat people in distress; as clearly stated in their official website, the number is not a rescue line, but an alarm number to support rescue operations.

One of the main means of ALARMPHONE is to constantly seek media attention and coverage in order to put political pressure on the local Coast Guard authorities. In the case of the illegal smuggling organized networks, Alarmphone was widely used to either provide data to the NGO members in the proximity of a staged boat sinking so they could push the Coast Guard authorities to intervene, or to spread false alarms of wreck incidents so the local authorities would be kept busy and the boat with the smugglers and the asylum seekers could approach the Greek shores unattended.

The Four NGOs Under Investigation

During the investigation by the Hellenic Police and the National Intelligence Service, 35 people, 26 from Germany, and the rest from Switzerland, France, Spain, Bulgaria, Norway, Austria, Iran and Afghanistan were identified as perpetrators in the illegal smuggling business.

These individuals have been identified and are currently being accused of participating in a criminal organization, people smuggling activity, and espionage. All 35 were arrested and released after once the Greek authorities contacted the respective embassies, and while the investigation is ongoing. All the aforementioned individuals – apart from the two individuals from Iran and Afghanistan – are members of the following four NGOs: FFM eV, Josoor International Solidarity, Mare Liberum eV, and Sea Watch eV.

Three out of the four NGOs are based in Germany, with only Josoor International Solidarity being headquartered in Austria. All four organizations are supposedly based upon volunteer work and donations, but further details about their financial backers and the key personnel working for them remains obscure.

It should be noted that according to the confidential report of the Greek authorities, the NGO Mare Liberum has been playing a key role in the operation since the vessel under the same name and managed by the organization was docked in the island of Lesbos, and has been assisting with the overall illicit process. The Greek task force raided the ship and arrested its crew, while confiscating the electronic equipment found onboard.

Also one of the founding members of Josoor International Solidarity was present in Turkey during Operation Alkmini, reportedly coordinating with the foreign smuggling network. Finally the NGO Sea Watch made headlines in the summer of 2019 with the wide-known case of Captain Carola Rackete, who was arrested after entering the port of Lampedusa carrying 40 migrants onboard despite the ban from the Italian authorities.

How Athens Has Been Handling Rogue NGOs

Since January 2020 the Hellenic Ministry of Migration and Asylum, alongside the appropriate national and local authorities, has adopted a series of measures to deal with the uncontrolled activity of NGOs across the Aegean Sea and within Greek territory. For this reason an official register with all the NGOs operating in Greece was created. The purpose of this record is to separate the NGOs that are operating in good faith and according to the international standards and those that have a rather dubious activity and whose motives are not clear.

Further to this, an additional record was established with the data of the individuals that are working as field operators and are actively involved in rescue operations and the day-to-day administration of the refugee camps in the Greek islands and mainland.

The measures of the Greek government have significantly limited the scope of the NGOs work through constant monitoring of their activities, the continuous control of their access to the “field”, namely the sea routes and the refugee/asylum seekers’ camps and the appointment of Greek officials in key positions for the camps and facilities management and administration. These were roles that until recently were undertaken by the members of the NGOs themselves.

Finally, a constant centralized and well-organized effort among the Hellenic Police, the Hellenic Coast Guard and the National Intelligence Service of Greece is taking place, bringing remarkable results as in the case of Operation Alkmini. Greek authorities are also coordinating with international agencies like Frontex and the role of these bodies is also critical to the accomplishment of each mission and to crack down on dangerous smuggling operations.

L'articolo Dozens of NGO Members Busted for Allegedly Helping Migrant Smugglers on Aegean Sea proviene da InsideOver.

Alongside the 30th anniversary of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, Manfred Nowak, leader of the UN Global Study on Children Deprived of Liberty released a report detailing the number of migrant kids detained by states across the globe. Almost immediately after the study’s report made news headlines, Nowak was forced to issue a correction, downscaling the number of children detained by the US, but keeping it at the top of the list. 

Numbers Game 

Nowak’s initial count placed the number of children at over 100,000. He cited a UN refugee agency report which used data from 2015 during the administration of former US President Barack Obama. That number contrasted heavily alongside a US Health and Human Services figure of 69,550 for 2019. Furthermore, Nowak admitted the number did not reference the number of children held simultaneously, but rather cumulatively. Therefore it would be inaccurate to say those children are currently detained at the same time. 

“I used the UNHCR data because it was the last UNHCR figure that was published, and that goes back to the year 2015,” Nowak said. “And I haven’t checked it that clearly in the press conference. So that was, of course, misleading.”

Still, when stacked against data from other countries, the US figure is alarmingly high. In 2013, Australia kept 2,000 children. Canada detained 155 in 2018 and the United Kingdom revealed that only 42 were sent to shelters in 2017. 

With 60 of every 100,000 children detained, the US leads developing states such as Bolivia, Botswana, and Sri Lanka. Mexico also falls behind the US with only a fraction of children detained – 18,000 in immigrant detention facilities and 7,000 in prison. 

Notably, these children are separated from their families. 

“Of course separating children, as was done by the Trump administration, from their parents and even small children at the Mexican-US border is prohibited by the Convention on the Rights of the Child. I would call it inhumane treatment for both the parents and the children,” Nowak remarked. 

Article 9 of the convention reads, “States Parties shall ensure that a child shall not be separated from his or her parents against their will, except when competent authorities subject to judicial review determine, under applicable law and procedures, that such separation is necessary for the best interests of the child.”

Subpar Conditions

In the US and Mexico, a majority of the separation cases are centred around alleged illegal immigration. Often the child’s family is with them as they attempt to enter the US or Mexico. HHS commented that although the total for 2019 “has jumped dramatically” since 2012, the average detention period has fallen to 57 days from 93 in November 2018. 

“The way they were separating infants from families only to deter irregular migration from Central America to the United States to me constitutes inhuman treatment, and that is prohibited by the two treaties,” said Nowak.

In the Middle East, 29,000 youth are detained in Syria and Iraq due to connections with the ISIS terror group. French citizens comprise the largest segment of foreigners among them, Nowak said. 

Separating children from their families and detaining them is only the beginning of the problem highlighted by the convention’s report. Treatment of minors has been a contentious debate. The US Congress appropriated $4.6 billion for the Border Patrol to relocate children from border facilities into more age-appropriate shelters, but evidence suggests that has done little to improve conditions. 

Food is a common issue, according to a New York Times report. In two instances, children were told to eat food from off the floor. Additionally, food is often spoiled. Detention facilities are commonly overcrowded, wash facilities are subpar, and children are found sleeping on floors due to lack of beds and blankets. Furthermore, US law requires children to receive proper medical and mental healthcare, but the HHS Office of the Inspector General determined there is a lack of clinicians. 

Mental Effect

The long-term effects of child separation and mistreatment is damning. Jack Shonkoff, director of Harvard University’s Center on the Developing Child, explained to Congress the mental aspect of separation.

“Stable and responsive relationships promote healthy brain architecture,” Shonkoff said. “If these relationships are disrupted, young children are hit by the double whammy of a brain that is deprived of the positive stimulation it needs, and assaulted by a stress response that disrupts its developing circuitry.”

Although the practice of detaining youth is not new from the Trump administration, poor treatment and living conditions are likely to have a lifelong effect. The number of detained kids in the US is higher due to its border with Mexico and the influx of immigrants, but that does not justify violating international treaties the US ratified. At the minimum, the Border Patrol should strive to improve conditions and expedite family reunification. 

L'articolo United States Detains Most Migrant Children in the World proviene da InsideOver.

Athens, 23 September 2019. Another police operation is taking place in one of the most central Athens neighbourhoods. Approximately 100 immigrants have been moved from what used to be one of the Greek capital’s landmark schools in the past decades; and this is only one instance of the several similar operations, that have been taking place since mid-summer in Greece. The recently elected Greek government is trying to establish the image of an administration, able to tackle this critical issue and adequately manage the unprecedented refugee crisis of the last years. But how viable and productive is the governmental plan and is Greece ready -or willing- to take drastic measures to cope with a situation that affects not only the Greek state but the integrity of the European Union, as a whole?

Roots and Security Concerns

The refugee crisis is not posing a new challenge for Greece. Due to certain lacks in current infrastructure, none of the Greek governments have succeeded to manage this issue efficiently so far and to implement a sustainable policy. However, the situation has dramatically deteriorated between 2015 and 2019 during the term of the leftist SYRIZA government. The said government applied a misinterpreted loose strategy to address the problem, in accordance with their pre-election announcements, drastically reducing the control process in the main points of entrance, encouraging the massive flow of immigrants through the Greek maritime borders. Therefore, a considerable number of the new arrivals, have never gone through the required vetting, creating several ensuing security concerns.

I happened to read recently a December 2018 analysis with regard to why Greek people are concerned about the security implications of the migrant crisis. Even though agreeing with the qualitative approach adopted by the writer, I consider that some of the findings are missing major parameters. To begin with the scenario of a terrorist attack within Greek territory, one should consider that the country functions as the entering point to Europe. A hypothetical terrorist attack in Greece by radical elements would be a strategic mistake of their terror patrons, who would see the in-country security framework being enhanced, toughening the entrance to an EU country, that provides access to major European metropolitan cities, targets of far greater significance for the terrorist networks. To  further emphasize this statement, we need to remember that terrorists involved in some of the most high-profile and deadly attacks, namely in Paris and Brussels, have entered Europe through Greece or have visited the country at least once.

In the same time, even though major funding has been allocated for the settlement procedure of these people, through the competent authorities of the European Union and the United Nations, but also through other major international organizations, including several NGOs, a paradox has been occurring in Greece since 2015. In various locations of the country’s urban centres, and predominantly Athens, the displaced people have been staying in totally inappropriate structures, most often private properties that have been occupied without any authorization from the legal owners. In those cases the lack of control and monitoring raised not only security concerns but also health implications, considering that the health and safety essentials have been completely absent in those places; in order to provide a more accurate picture of this situation, it would be enough to say that in many of those recent police raids, hundreds of people were found to be living in spaces of just a few square meters.

Facts and figures

In order to comprehend the size of the crisis and the challenge posed to each respective Greek government, let’s examine the graph below:

There has been a surge in the asylum applications since 2015, a figure correlated to the massive flow of immigrants and refugees from that year onwards. It is perplexing though, how those numbers remained lower in the first years of the Syrian conflict. There have been some decisive factors, like the action taken from the FYROM government, back then, to ease the measures and controls when migrants were entering the country; or the shift in stance of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who in an effort to tackle the crisis, suggested that Berlin would adopt a much more friendly and open policy towards Syrian refugees. However, a significant point that many analysts have surprisingly overseen, has been the role of the 2015-elected Greek government. As mentioned earlier, the leftist ruling party has been advocating an open-border policy before the elections, a fact that triggered thousands of people –many of whom would not qualify for the refugee status whatsoever- trapped in Turkey or elsewhere to move to Greece, considering that the country is the entrance to central and northern Europe.

Following the political backlash that many European governments faced due to the escalation of the migrant crisis though, the problems for Greece have been growing even further. With thousands of people planning to enter richer countries of the EU, remaining in Greece, the existing infrastructure proved to be far from efficient. For instance, Lesvos, a Greek island of approximately 86,000 residents, in the eastern Aegean Sea and quite close to the Turkish border, has been one of the “busiest” points of entrance. A major camp is located within the island, where all the migrants are stationed until their asylum applications are assessed; however, the disproportionate flows eventually led to an unmanageable and dangerous situation for all the parties involved, considering that more than 12,000 people are currently living in a structure designed for 3,000. According to an up-to-date report from the UNCHR, the capacity of structures intended for immigrants and refugees in the islands and mainland Greece, under the ESTIA scheme, is approaching 100%; and this scheme covers only a handful of the people who are currently in the country looking to settle in.

Facing the real problem or just another political grandstanding?

The Greek Minister of Citizen Protection, Michalis Chrysochoidis, recently stated that out of the 80,000 people currently in the country, more than half should be readmitted to Turkey, since they do not fulfil the criteria to be considered asylum seekers; however, just over 2% of those people have been sent back so far. Among the same lines, Greek PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis, in front of the UN General Assembly, urged last week that Greece cannot cope with the situation anymore, indicating the country’s inefficiency compared to the real dimensions of the crisis.

The unprecedented flow of migrants, asylum-seekers and refugees in Greece since 2015 has created a problem that still seems to be unmanageable. By the time these lines are written, grim images from the foresaid camp in Moria, have been dominating the Greek and international media. Two fires have been set simultaneously in the interior of the facilities and in a nearby small wooded land, with the local authorities still examining the reasons behind the catastrophe. Police forces and fire brigades that rushed to the area hardly managed to operate in the camp as for several hours, the official authorities have lost control of the situation and the camp itself with hundreds of immigrants rioting in the inside. The tragic outcome of this violent breakthrough has been a woman confirmed dead and another 17 people injured.

Apparently, the government has not been able to handle this challenging reality efficiently so far, even though governmental sources are struggling to provide a different image to the Greek public. The Sunday incident in Moria proves that the situation can instantly and unexpectedly get out of control. On top of that, one should consider Turkey’s role; the immigration crisis has been a considerable burden for Ankara over the last few years. But at the same time, Turkey can use anytime the crisis to gain leverage on political disputes with the EU. In case that the Turkish government decides to use the refugee crisis, as a means to put pressure on Europe on a wide-scale basis, then even the most pessimistic scenarios could not foresee what is to come.

L'articolo Is The Greek Immigrant Crisis Manageable After All? proviene da InsideOver.

Three people have died in South Africa after attacks on foreign-owned stores. Another person is currently being treated for smoke inhalation. In the attacks, black South Africans began looting and burning businesses and properties that belong to immigrants.

The President of the Nigeria Union South Africa, Adetola Olubajo said: “Late in the evening of Sunday, September 1, a group of violent locals suspected to be Zulu hostel dwellers besieged Jules Street in Malvern, Johannesburg, [and] looted and burned shops/businesses.

“The mob also looted several shops that were around the vicinity suspected to be owned by foreign nationals.” According to Mr. Olubanjo, over 50 shops and businesses were looted and burned overnight, totalling a loss of millions of rands.

“The means of livelihood of people were looted and destroyed by fire overnight which has left many Nigerians traumatised,” he continued. “Nigerian-owned businesses were seriously affected. A car sales business owned by a Nigerian [was] among the several businesses set ablaze over the night.

“Although the police said that many people had been arrested in connection with the unnecessary attacks, the looting and burning of foreign-owned businesses continued till Monday morning,’’ he added.

The tension between black South Africans and black African immigrants has been escalating for decades in democratic South Africa. White South Africans retained control of most of the country’s wealth after apartheid, in what is called “white monopoly capital”.This has led to massive economic inequality between white and black South Africans, as poverty and unemployment stagnates the economic growth of South Africa’s black populace.

The End of Apartheid?

Foreigners are scapegoats of economic inequality in the country. In February 2017, a group from Pretoria, called the Mamelodi Concerned Residents, staged a march against alleged illegal immigrants in the country. In a flyer distributed in Johannesburg, the capital city, the group protested against South Africa’s lax immigration policies.

“Zimbabweans, Nigerians, Pakistanis etc. are not our countrymen,” the flyer read. “Zimbabweans, Nigerians, Pakistanis etc. bring nothing but destruction; hijack our buildings sell drugs, inject young South African ladies with drugs and sell them as prostitutes. How is that helping us? They have destroyed beloved Johannesburg and now they are destroying Pretoria.”

This demonstration led, all month, to attacks and looting of the homes of Malawians, Nigerians and Somalians, some of whom fought back.

During the February 2017 violence, Abdirazak Osman of the Somali Community Board of South Africa said: “We have been trying to endure the challenges we face in this country but it seems the people are running out of patience and have decided to fight back.”

Xenophobia against foreigners has a history dating back to the end of apartheid in South Africa. The majority of South Africa’s anti-immigrant violence, has taken place in Johannesburg. Many immigrants have been shot, burned alive, chased away or forcibly transported to police stations to be deported. Immigrants are routinely accused of having no legal papers, transporting drugs, stealing South African women and bringing crime into the country.

Goodwill Zwelithini kaBhekulu, the King of the Zulu Nation widely known for his lavish spending, in a tactic similar to those used during the Rwandan genocide, likened South Africa’s immigrants to “lice” and “ants” and told them to “go back to their countries”.

“We are requesting those who come from outside to please go back to their countries,” he said during a public speech.

“The fact that there were countries that played a role in the country’s struggle for liberation should not be used as an excuse to create a situation where foreigners are allowed to inconvenience locals.

“I know you [South African nationals] were in their countries during the struggle for liberation. But the fact of the matter is you did not set up businesses in their countries,” he said.

Following the recent South African attacks against Nigerians, Nigeria’s foreign affairs minister Geoffrey Onyema tweeted: “Received sickening and depressing news of continued burning and looting of Nigerian shops and premises in #SouthAfrica by mindless criminals with ineffective police protection. Enough is enough. We will take definitive measures.”

South Africa’s government continues to meet decades of anti-immigrant violence with inaction, prompting criticism that they are creating a “new apartheid“, using foreigners as scapegoats for the country’s economic inequalities.

Xenophobia in Ghana

In Ghana, xenophobic attacks against immigrants is also rising. Last month, Nigerian traders were attacked by Ghanaian traders, after the Ghanaian Parliament barred Nigerian retail traders from trading in the country.

Dr Joseph Obeng, president of the Ghana Union of Traders Association, said: “These foreign retailers have found a loophole in our retail laws and are capitalising on that…We will not sit down and watch them take over our market.”

“If a Ghanaian sells something in the market for $7, a Nigerian will come in and sell it for $4, then take that money back to Nigeria,” an InsideOver source from Ghana explained.

L'articolo South Africa’s Government Scapegoats Immigrants for Economic Problems proviene da InsideOver.

After fleeing conflict in their homeland, nearly 3.6 million Syrian refugees have begun to wear out their welcome in Turkey, although not necessarily due to their own fault; after spending years in their host country, many simply moved on from their previous lives and became fully-integrated into Turkish society. For example, refugees have created 15,000 businesses, birthed babies, and built homes for themselves – actions which would be impossible to even consider if they were living in Syria. 

Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon, all of which share a border with Syria, welcomed refugees with open arms when the conflict began eight years ago. They did so based on an Islamic duty to help their brethren, but it was also a preemptive solution to the inevitable influx of migrants. As part of the Turkish programme, refugees were initially settled in camps, close to the border, but gradually, nearly all the refugees became integrated into Turkish society. After relocating across the nation, Syrians registered with the government in the provinces where they would build new lives. 

Kimlik, please

Ankara required all Syrians to file for a Temporary Protection Permit, commonly known as a ‘kimlik.’ These identity documents afford migrants legal standing in the country, but are heavily tied to the state where they registered. According to the law, anyone holding a kimlik should have a written permission to travel between Turkish states. While this law has widely been ignored, a crackdown on immigrants from Ankara has seen more Syrians stopped at border checkpoints and even during their daily lives with law enforcement officials demanding to see their kimliks. 

On Monday, the government ordered all Syrians to return to their places of registration, a move designed to force immigrants to leave major cities such as Istanbul and Ankara, both of which have swelled with both documented and undocumented individuals. Officially, 500,000 refugees are registered in Istanbul, however there could be up to one million in total. 

The consequences for not carrying a kimlik or living in a state outside of its original registration are quite severe. In one case, an 18-year-old student went out to an Istanbul grocery store only to find himself on a bus back to Syria. Tablieh had a proper kimlik to live and work in Istanbul, but had left it at his home when a police officer stopped him. He offered to go home and retrieve it, but the officer instead forced him onto a bus transporting other refugees. Shockingly, once the bus arrived at a police station, they “were beaten and forced to sign a document they were not allowed to read.” The form was likely a “voluntary” return application that authorities are using to send refugees back to their homeland. 

Tablieh and other Syrians were taken from the police station to the Syrian province of Idlib, which is not exactly the safest place to be. It is held by rebels, but the government, backed with Russian support, is trying to reclaim the territory. Tablieh, a Damascus native, knew nothing about Idlib and, fearing for his safety, posted a video online which prompted some activists to fight for his right to return to Istanbul. Tablieh’s story is only one of thousands making headlines and giving Syrians a renewed fear. After years of building their lives in what they assumed would be their new home – and being encouraged to do so by the Turkish government – they now have to face the reality that it all might be coming to an end. 

Economic scapegoat

The problems began with the downward turn of the Turkish economy. While there have been some issues of crime and safety, a bulk of the outrage against Syrian refugees is simple math. The economy is in a recession and unemployment is at 13-precent. Many Turks blame refugees for taking their jobs and in some cases this may be true as they often work for lower wages and sometimes illegally. 

Furthermore, accommodating the refugees has cost Ankara $37 billion over the past eight years, a price that many Turks feel is unreasonable in light of the economic problems. According to a poll from Kadir Has University, 68 percent of Turks responded with an unfavorable opinion of Syrian refugees. In addition to the economic woes for which migrants make an easy scapegoat, they are also blamed simply for enjoying life. After a cartoon circulated which portrayed Ankara as persecuting refugees, Turks responded by spreading images of Syrians enjoying their lives, such as laying on the beach or smoking hookah. 

Anti-refugee sentiment has boiled to the point that the Turkish government, and President Recep Erdogan, must act. Many in Erdogan’s AK Party blame their electoral loss of Istanbul on mishandling of the Syrian crisis. Erdogan used to be a man of the people, but seems to have lost his connection with voters. By failing to address the perceived issues that migrants have caused, the AK Party left from for the Republican People’s Party to exploit the issue and connect with voters. It doesn’t help matters that Erdogan often spoke proudly of how much money Turkey spends on refugees.

“Voluntary” deportations

While the government denies the mass deportation of legal, kimlik-bearing migrants, it is clear that forced deportations are already underway and many expect future initiatives to cut down the Syrian population in Turkey. 

“We are preparing to take new steps. We are going to encourage them to return to their countries,” Erdogan said. “We are going to deport those who have committed crimes. Furthermore, we foresee a contribution payment from them in exchange for the health services provided to them.”

For many Syrians who escaped war to Turkey, it may have felt like they had won golden tickets to new lives. Although the Turkish government spent billions on them and helped millions successfully integrate into Turkish society, Ankara’s inability to properly manage the issue has led to that golden ticket losing its luster and Erdogan’s mismanagement of the economic turmoil has only made the issue worse as Turks blame the immigrants, justifiably or not, which is sadly a natural reaction to this sort of situation. Migrants not registered in Istanbul must return to the province where their kimlik was issued by August 20. For those who stay, shop signs may no longer feature Arabic script, healthcare may soon no longer be free, and life in general will become more burdensome. The message is clear: leave Istanbul.

L'articolo Turks No Longer Welcoming Syrian Refugees proviene da InsideOver.

(Tangier, Morocco)

Thirty migrants, desperate to reach the coast of Spain, are camping deep in the forests of Tangier. The ferry trip across the Strait of Gibraltar takes only an hour, yet there are many obstacles preventing the group from reaching their desired location. Police regularly chase them from the forest, burning their belongings and seizing their documents. When the migrants tried to cross the border, Moroccan officials took all of their money, and unleashed dogs on the group. They have no choice but to remain in the forest.

L'articolo In the forest of migrants proviene da InsideOver.

In 2018, Morocco and Spain were inundated by thousands of migrants. After the policies of the Italian government slowed down the Libyan route, the Moroccan reign was overwhelmed by an unprecedented migratory wave. Sub-Saharan, Algerian and Moroccan migrants crowd around the small city of Ceuta, Spanish enclaves in North Africa, trying to get to Europe.

The Moroccan reign effectively managed the migratory flow for years, having understood it could take advantage of it. But later in 2018, under pressure from the European Union, Morocco started deporting migrants back to their country of origin. The popular districts of Tangier, which were previously populated by a growing number of migrants, are now empty. Those who escaped the law enforcement now live hidden in the forests south of the city or in ruined buildings, hoping to reach Europe one day. This is the desperate dream the journalist Marianna di Piazza tells about in her report.

L'articolo From Africa to Europe: a Desperate Dream proviene da InsideOver.