Rabat- Some 2,500 Moroccan seasonal workers in Spain have declared that they will not return to Morocco.
In January, Spain agreed to hire 10,400 Moroccan agricultural workers to pick strawberries and other berries for the April to June harvest season. The agreement was made in a meeting between 18 representatives of agricultural firms and officials from Spain’s General Directorate for Migration.
According to the Moroccan-Spanish commission, which had organized the workers’ travel, 2,500 (17 percent) of the workers have declared their wish to stay in Spain, reported news outlet Lakome.
The workers were scheduled to return to their home country once the agricultural season ends.
During the application process, the Moroccan government had said that it would prioritize seasonal workers who were married, have experience in the field, and were committed to returning to Morocco after the harvest.
Many previous Moroccan seasonal farmers in Spain have not returned after the expiration of their contracts and are either living illegally in Spain or have become regularized.
The Spanish countryside is home to workers from a number of European and South American countries. Most workers have migrated to Spain from Bulgaria, Lithuania, Poland, Portugal, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Ukraine and Pakistan, along with others from African countries.
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Moroccan female workers report sexual assault
Several women working seasonally in Huelva province in Spain filed complaints against their employers for sexual assault in May.
The US-based online media company Buzzfeed was the first to recount their stories. Later, several news outlets, including Spain’s El Mundo and El Pais, reported on the conditions of the Moroccan farmers in Huelva.
Morocco’s Ministry of Employment also carried out an investigation on the Spanish farms.
After a Moroccan-Spanish delegation visited the farms, the ministry maintained that “no specific case of abuse or violation against Moroccan workers was found.”
In June, Moroccan and Spanish women rallied in Huelva in a march of solidarity with the seasonal workers, denouncing the alleged sexual assaults.
The minister of employment, Mohamed Yatim, said on October 2 that Moroccan-Spanish cooperation on seasonal employment has “positive results.”
According to Yatim, Morocco and Spain should revise the employment agreement to allow for “candidate selection procedures to be adapted to new situations and to open up new social rights for seasonal workers, including retirement.”
