'We just want the truth': The Moroccan families on a journey of truth and justice in the search for their loved ones lost at sea

Fatima Mesdar was left heartbroken when her son, Oussama Laamari, a young man in his twenties, left their home in Casablanca in 2021, bound for Tunisia. He hoped to cross the Mediterranean and reach Europe.

Her pain deepened in the weeks that followed, as silence swallowed his trail. There were no calls, no messages – not a single sign of life.

“I reported my son missing a week after he left, directly to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,” she said. “Nothing happened. No response.”

Months later, she was notified that Tunisian authorities had recovered two bodies from the sea. In the hope of finding answers, she travelled there to see if one of them might be Oussama.

The Tunisian National Guard confirmed they had been working to identify the recovered bodies. But despite having ID documents in hand, officials claimed they “did not know how to reach the families.” The DNA results brought no closure for Fatima. Neither of the bodies was Oussama.

Every year, thousands of migrants like Oussama set out across the Mediterranean, chasing the promise of a better future in Europe. But for many, the journey ends in tragedy.

The Mediterranean remains the world’s deadliest migration route, claiming around 30,000 lives in the past decade, and nearly 2,500 in 2024 alone.

Among the lost are hundreds of Moroccans, whose families are left behind in silence, struggling to piece together what happened, often with no answers from the state.

In August 2023, the European Union increased financial aid to Morocco by 50 percent – reaching €500 million – in a bid to curb unauthorised migration. But despite intensified crackdowns and tighter border controls, the urge to leave has not diminished.

In 2024, Moroccan authorities intercepted nearly 79,000 illegal migration attempts. Yet these deterrents have not stopped the rising toll of deaths and disappearances.

With safer routes increasingly out of reach, desperate migrants are now launching from perilous coastal points like Sidi Ifni, Agadir, Rabat and Casablanca – risking everything on fragile boats and uncertain waters.

Amidst this growing crisis, the lack of official investigations, updates, and communication has compounded the suffering, leaving countless families trapped in uncertainty. 

According to families who spoke to The New Arab, authorities often ask for basic details such as names, ID numbers, and dates and places of disappearance – promising to follow up if new information emerges. But families like Fatima’s almost never hear back.

Finding hope

Against this backdrop of institutional silence, the Moroccan Association for the Support of Migrants in Vulnerable Situations (AMSV) has become a rare source of hope.

Based in Oujda and run by volunteers and relatives of the missing, the grassroots group tracks disappearances, documents cases, pressures authorities for answers, and escalates the most urgent ones to UN bodies in Geneva – all driven by a mission to ensure the names of those lost at sea are never forgotten.

In Oussama’s case, it was AMSV that informed Fatima about the bodies recovered in Tunisia, and helped cover the costs of her travel and DNA testing.

“When the association was founded in 2017, our primary focus was on migrant-related issues,” said Hassan Ammari, president of AMSV.

“The idea behind its creation came from the realisation that there were no local groups in Morocco’s Oriental region specifically working on this issue.”

In 2020, however, AMSV’s focus began to shift towards locating missing migrants, after the group received more than 60 such cases. That same year, Oujda hosted the first international commemoration for the disappeared, now observed annually on 6 February.

“In 2021, families began reaching out to us directly, so we started working on the issue and trying to gather information about the missing,” Hassan explained. “To date, we’ve handled more than 600 cases.”

Despite limited financial resources, AMSV has made it its mission to stand by the families of the missing.

The group has organised countless meetings and public gatherings to listen to their stories, explain procedures, and help them navigate the long, often painful search for answers. Together with families, AMSV has led several sit-ins in Rabat, directly in front of the Ministries of Interior and Foreign Affairs, demanding recognition, accountability, and action.

“Through our work with the families, we realised that providing support wasn’t enough; the issue needed to be brought into the public eye,” Hassan said. “That’s when we began our advocacy efforts. We sent letters to the National Council for Human Rights [CNDH] but received no response for over a year. We also reached out to the Ministries of Interior and Foreign Affairs. When it became clear that national channels were closed to us, we decided to go international.”

In Geneva, AMSV submitted detailed files listing missing and detained migrants to the UN Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Migrants and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).

Chasing dreams 

Like Fatima in her search for Oussama, Hafida Labiad is also on a painful journey to find her younger brother, Abdessalam. He disappeared while trying to reach Europe, driven by his dream of becoming a footballer.

Hafida, who now represents families of missing migrants with AMSV, told The New Arab that the 22-year-old left home with nothing but his football boots and a jersey, joining a group of 16 young men from Salé, a coastal town near Rabat.

“He was always passionate about football,” she said. “He joined a club in middle school, and football was all he ever knew or wanted to do with all his heart.”

Despite limited prospects for his career in Morocco, Abdessalam was not discouraged. Like many others, he set his sights beyond the borders, determined to chase his dream.

Although many of his friends sought legal means to leave, their visa applications were repeatedly denied. With no alternatives left, they were forced to risk the dangerous journey by sea.

Pushed away from the Western Mediterranean, many Moroccans attempt the risky Atlantic crossing, while others endure abuse, torture, and imprisonment en route through Algeria to Libya, some choosing the Balkan route instead — but Abdessalam, like many, took the treacherous sea journey from Salé to Cádiz, never to return.

AMSV has documented over 800 cases of Moroccan migrants who are missing, detained, or deceased along dangerous migration routes. Between January 2023 and December 2024, the association recorded 31 disappearances in Libya, 35 in Tunisia, 17 in the Mediterranean, 156 in Algeria, three along the Balkan route, and 129 in the Atlantic.

Additionally, 438 Moroccans remain detained in Algerian prisons, with others held in Balkan countries. AMSV also reported 46 cases involving migrants from Morocco, Algeria, and Sub-Saharan Africa, along with 33 Algerians missing in Morocco and six confirmed deaths.

The disappearances the group addresses span five key regions: the Mediterranean routes, the Atlantic, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, and the Balkans.

Many of the missing had been detained in Algeria for crossing the border illegally. Some were given harsh sentences – in some cases lasting up to 10 years.

Through persistent advocacy, AMSV managed to persuade Moroccan and Algerian authorities to reopen their borders for repatriating migrants and exchanging detainees. In some cases, even the remains of those who had died were returned to their families.

However, that fragile progress has since unravelled due to renewed diplomatic tensions.

“Even with confirmed DNA matches, repatriating remains now costs up to €7,000 just in flight expenses,” Hassan said. “We currently have more than seven identified bodies still stuck in Algeria.”

'They were just looking for a better future'

People like Hafida are not passive victims – they are active advocates for memory, truth, and justice.

As migrant solidarity faces increasing criminalisation, she remains a powerful voice for families left behind. At public gatherings organised by AMSV, she speaks of legal barriers and the silent pain families endure – the uncertainty and unanswered questions. And although the grief has not lessened, she remains resolute.

“When someone dies, you learn to let go,” she said. “But in our case, and for hundreds of other families, it’s not that simple, since we don’t know if they are dead.”

According to Hafida, for families of the disappeared, solidarity is not just a comfort – it is essential for survival.

“It transforms private grief into collective strength. In the face of institutional silence and official indifference, we raise our voices,” she added.

For these women, what began as personal pain has evolved into a mission: to uncover the truth, restore dignity, and ensure that no life is lost without accountability.

“They were just looking for a better future,” said Fatima. “That’s not a crime. Wanting the best for your children isn’t a crime. We just want the truth. If they’re gone, we deserve to mourn. If they’re alive or detained, we have the right to know.”

Despite limited resources, AMSV in Oujda continues to push forward – amplifying families’ voices from Geneva to South Africa, and most recently to the European Council in Strasbourg on 23 and 24 April.

“We made a promise,” said Hassan. “This is our responsibility, and we won’t stop until these families find truth and justice.”

Imane Bellamine is a Moroccan journalist 

This piece was published in collaboration with Egab