In Casablanca, Moroccan authorities' raid on Ouled Ziane camps kills one migrant

In a surprising dawn manoeuvre, Moroccan authorities raided two migrant camps in Casablanca on Sunday, which killed one migrant.

"A judicial investigation has been opened by security services to identify the deceased's identity and uncover the circumstances of the incident, as well as to determine responsibilities," said an official source 

At 4 a.m., Sunday, 18 February, some 4,000 auxiliary forces surrounded the two infamous makeshift migrant camps situated next to the Ouled Ziane (Ziyan) bus station in Casablanca and arrested hundreds, including women and children. 

Set on the edge of the coastal port city of 4.2 million people, the two camps hosted around 1,400 African migrants for the past six years.

Those from West Africa sheltered next to an unfinished tram station, meanwhile the East Africans, mostly from Sudan, holed up in an abandoned school nearby. 

Today, only charred remnants of tents scattered across the landscape bear witness of the once home to hundreds of "Heragga" or burners as locals call them, given they set their official papers alight when they leave their countries so authorities won't be able to identify where they're from and deport them back there.

According to official sources, the Harraga have also put their camp on fire to disrupt the forces' raid.

But those who survived Sunday's raid tell a different story.

"Authorities are the ones who set the camp on fire; they have been doing this for years. (...) why would we burn our only belongings," Nabil, a Sudanese migrant, said to The New Arab.

Since 2017, the camp has been set on fire several times, but Moroccan authorities have always denied the migrants' accusations of being behind the incidents. 

Nabil, who lived in the East African camp, says authorities arrived at their camp at 7 a.m. and instructed them to leave effective immediately. "Six buses arrived and took hundreds of us, including women and children", added the 23-year-old migrant from Sudan. 

No one knows where the evacuated migrants were taken. "We lost contact with them after the raid," remarked Nabil.

According to the Moroccan Association of Human Rights (AMDH), an independent organisation, the arrested migrants were transported further south and towards the East border "under difficult conditions."

In his pyjamas, the sole remnant from the raid, Nabil gazes incredulously at the charred remains of the camp, reliving the night's events. "When we asked where to go, they said anywhere. But where is anywhere?" he lamented.

Monday morning saw many, like Nabil, arriving to bid farewell to their charred possessions and memories, posing the same question to journalists and activists on-site. Yet, no one seems to have an answer.

"I have no words. (...) These migrants are humans. Displacement, fire, and other methods will not solve the problem," said Gueck Beyeth, head of the Association of Solidarity Bank.

"They did not leave their countries because they wanted to; they were forced to. They are human beings. We should treat them like"human beings," added the activist.