Rabat – On Wednesday morning, the land border between Algeria and Morocco opened under special circumstances, namely, for the repatriation of the body of a young Moroccan who tried to reach Europe from the Algerian coast.
According to online Arabic-speaking newspaper Al3omk, a Moroccan ambulance received the body of the deceased would-be-migrant at the Zouj Beghal border post, northeastern Morocco. From there, the body was transported to Oujda, the deceased’s hometown, where he will be buried.
The victim was part of a group of 13 young men who “disappeared” from Oujda on February 18. Al3omk also reports that all 13 victims died trying to reach Europe when their inflatable boat popped in the middle of the sea.
Although land borders between Morocco and Algeria have been closed since 1994, the Zouj Beghal border crossing opens provisionally.
The border opened in 2009 in order to let through an international humanitarian aid convoy bound for the blockaded Gaza Strip in Palestine. The convoy consisted of 29 vehicles, 67 human rights activists, and it carried supplies such as school materials, food, clothes, winter blankets, and medicines.
Read also: The Deteriorating Conditions of African Migrants in the Mediterranean
Recently, over 100 public figures from Morocco and Algeria signed an initiative calling for the opening of a “humanitarian” border between Algeria and Morocco. They have designated it “the Call of the Future.”
The project seeks to allow families and friends to exchange visits without movement restrictions in place since 1994.
Morocco has made active efforts to curb human trafficking and migrant smuggling. Between April 10 and 12, a fleet of Morocco’s Royal Navy patrolling in the Mediterranean rescued 100 Europe-bound irregular migrants.
Many of Morocco’s institutions, including the Royal Navy, the General Directorate of Territorial Surveillance (DGST), and the General Directorate of National Security (DGSN), collaborate on a high level to combat irregular migration, human trafficking, drug trafficking, and other criminal activities.
As crossings to Europe from Libya and Tunisia have become increasingly dangerous, many irregular migrants opt for Melilla instead, either by climbing the border fence or by swimming. The two Spanish enclaves in northern Morocco, Ceuta and Melilla, represent the only land borders between the European Union and Africa.
