‘You wont be needing these because you’re going to die.’

That’s what Emmanuel was told as he was beaten and his money and documents stolen by Moroccan security forces before being left to die in the desert.
Emmanuel is from Guinea Bissau, one of thousands of sub-Saharan migrants who risk their lives attempting to enter ‘Fortress Europe’ to escape a life of poverty. He, like many men and women had spent years on the long and perilous journey from his home to Morocco via Mali and Algeria. In Morocco he lived in a forest, for 3 years, begging for food and water, trying to avoid raids by Moroccan forces. His story is not unusual. Another migrant from Nigeria, when asked about his experiences in Morocco answered. ‘I cannot explain because I will be in tears. When I was in Morocco I lived like a slave….At times we went from morning to evening with nothing to eat and no water.’

What enabled these people to survive these horrific experiences was their hope of reaching Europe. After all this however, these dreams are shattered. They are part of a group of migrants caught attempting to enter Melilla and were rounded up to be deported by the Moroccan forces. This is a regular occurrence and part of a Moroccan strategy to deal with migrants who, in accordance with Moroccan law should be deported to the border from which they entered Morocco. This group however were not taken to that border. They were forced on to a bus in Nador and driven into the desert of Western Sahara, one of the world’s most inhospitable terrains where they were abandoned with no food or water. Many died. Another man from Ghana described his terrifying journey ‘I was captured and brutalised. They handcuffed me and put me on a bus with many other people and took us into the desert. We wandered in the desert for three days.’ His brother had been on the journey with him but they had become separated and he now doesn’t know if he is alive or dead .

Emmanuel and the rest of these people here are the ‘lucky’ ones. They were rescued by the Polisario, the liberation force for Western Sahara and are now being cared for in Bir Lehlu in the liberated area of Western Sahara. In addition to the physical injuries they sustained in attacks by the Moroccan forces, many have severe psychological problems as a result of their experiences. Although they are well looked after by the Polisario who are doing everything they can to find a solution for them, they have been languishing here in this remote area since October, with no news from their families, as neither their own countries nor the U.N appear committed to finding a solution to their predicament. Many think their families believe them to be dead as another man from Nigeria told me. ‘I can’t sleep because I am thinking of my family. I am my mother and father’s only son, they will have heard that Morocco left people to die in the desert and I have been here so long they will think I am dead.’

When asked, why after cheating death yet again he is still determined to enter Europe Habib, a migrant from Ghana replied. ‘I need to find a job to help my family. I can’t go home to my mother like this, she has nothing. The only option in my country is to become a robber. I will never do this.’ Many are so frustrated at the situation that they are threatening to leave. Due to the remote location of Bir Lehlu this would mean almost certain death in the desert.
These people are looking to the international community for support. Emmanuel said, ‘Our situation needs an urgent response. We are appealing to the UN the UK, America and the whole world to help us and to stop the Moroccan and Spanish authorities doing what they have done to us to anyone else. It is against the laws of humanity.’

Take Action! Visit www.waronwant.org/?lid=11231 to send an e-mail to the Moroccan Consultative Council for Human Rights to ask them to investigate these shocking human rights violations