The Eid al-Adha holidays pushed hundreds of African immigrants to storm the border crossing into the occupied city of Ceuta in the northern part of Morocco, after the areas in its vicinity and in its twin enclave Melilla have become havens, where the immigrants are hiding in the forests and mountains. And the barbed wire erected by the Spanish authorities will not prevent the latter from undertaking any adventure to reach the other bank. What is new at the level of this tragic incident is that it coincided with the decision taken by the Moroccan authorities to deal with illegal immigration and asylum requests, based on the right to residence and movement without discrimination. However, the seemingly lustrous slogan of the stage conceals constraints at the level of execution. Indeed, the African immigrants coming from the Sahel region and elsewhere perceive Morocco as being a stop along the way, not a hosting country, while the most optimistic approach to contain this phenomenon failed to alleviate its social and humanitarian impact. At this level, the Moroccans are not concealing the fact that they cannot be alone in playing the role of the smiling policeman distributing flowers. This is due to the fact that the Europeans – who ought to be the most concerned about containing the migration phenomenon from Africa and the Maghreb – kept saying they will help the African states, in order to impose security and stability and enhance development. However, they did not link the security concerns to any practical measures. Apart from coordination or military intervention to confront terrorism and security mayhem, the pledges related to development remained meager and limited. What could not be achieved during the stages of prosperity will remain inaccessible during the days of economic and financial crisis. The Europeans became preoccupied with the containment of the security challenges posed by the immigration phenomenon, ever since they saw certain communities in their countries turning into center that attract extremist Islamic groups. They thus neglected the repercussions of illegal migration, and had it not been for terrorist attacks which targeted some European capitals, the European mind would not have imposed the Schengen system, which divided the world between good people and suspects. Today, this same logic is still in force, through preemptive and cautionary measures focusing on migration, to the point of witnessing the escalation of racist grudges and practices. Nevertheless, migration, which used to be limited to job seekers trying to improve their social condition, evolved in a completely different direction and became synonym to insecurity, the increase of wars and conflicts, and the loss of trust in the future. What is surprising at this level is that the death boats, which used to embark on their journey from the southern coasts of the Mediterranean Sea, have doubled in size against the backdrop of the so-called Arab spring. It is no coincidence that the maritime funerals have increased in light of the absence of monitoring over the border. Still, the storming of a border crossing apparently reflects the peak of despair, as such an adventure – undertaken in broad daylight – becomes much easier than counting the hours to know what will happen. Consequently, African immigrants tried to storm the barbed wire walls equipped with early warning devices, and many of them fell in quasi attempts to escape to an unknown world. This insistence is probably bound to be seen again, considering it will only generate frustration among African immigrants who crossed deserts, mountains and rough passages to reach a crossing separating them from fictive salvation. Yet, arriving to the outskirts of Ceuta and Melilla is not met with the same disgruntlement, as the attempt to storm a fictive border separating the historical and geographic dimension of the two cities as the last point in Africa, and their reality as territories which Spain considers to be affiliated with it on the southern bank of the Mediterranean Sea. While Morocco approved the building of walls around the two cities to deter illegal migration, this does not mean that they constitute a recognized border. The problem is that once the immigrants are able to infiltrate the two cities, they are hosted in refugee centers while awaiting deportation or integration. But when they arrive to Morocco, they are perceived differently, while human rights organizations leap to demand the respect of human dignity and rights and abolish discrimination. While Rabat's initiative to guarantee the rights of the migrants was widely welcomed, the European side did not bother translate those sentiments into actions, at least by respecting the pledges to support the fight against illegal migration, ensure the integration of the immigrants and grant Rabat the necessary means to deal with this growing phenomenon. Just like the status of the occupied Ceuta and Melilla is creating real problems surrounding the monitoring of the immigrants' infiltration, the exceptional situation on the closed border with Algeria in the east is generating security and social challenges, not the least of which being the lack of coordination and the exchange of expertise to monitor a wide border strip, extending deep within the Sahel in the southern part of the Sahara. Between the human, political and security dimensions, commitments and concerns are intersecting. And as long as the situation in the Sahel is unchanged, the waves of non-collective immigration are likely to increase, in light of a quasi-forgotten regional situation. In conclusion, the attempts to storm crossings and walls signal the depletion of the people's patience. And when the latter have nothing left to lose but their despair, they become willing to undertake whichever adventure.
