From Africa to Europe: a Desperate Dream

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.