Rights groups denounce forced transfers of sub-Saharan migrants to remote Moroccan towns

Human rights defenders and migration experts have sounded the alarm over the continuation of collective transfers of sub-Saharan migrants to small and remote Moroccan towns, most recently Errachidia, calling on the state to end the practice and uphold its international and constitutional obligations to dignity and human rights.

Driss Sedraoui, president of the Moroccan League for Human Rights, told Hespress that his association is “deeply concerned by these collective transfers carried out in degrading conditions.” 

He said migrants are “transported in trucks before being left in towns such as Errachidia,” stressing that such actions “violate human dignity and contradict Morocco’s international commitments, from the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to the Convention against Torture.” 

He recalled that Moroccan law itself requires alignment with ratified treaties.

Sedraoui further argued that these policies contradict royal discourse rejecting a “two-speed Morocco,” warning that marginalized towns risk becoming de facto centers for migrants and vulnerable populations, exacerbating social fragility and undermining local security. 

He urged an end to all forced transfers in favor of a humanitarian approach, with individualized case management, state-run reception centers in partnership with the National Human Rights Council, and resources for local authorities hosting migrants.

Othmane Machach, a professor of international law specializing in migration and asylum, noted that the legal foundation of these practices remains questionable. He pointed to Law 02-03 on the entry and residence of foreigners, which gives authorities wide discretionary powers, particularly under Article 31, to group migrants in certain locations pending expulsion procedures.

 “In practice,” Machach said, “the transfers often do not lead to expulsions but rather serve to disperse groups of migrants and avoid tensions caused by concentration in one place.”

He acknowledged, however, that whether such transfers comply with international law is “a separate and complex debate,” stressing the need to respect due process and provide avenues of appeal. 

Machach added that these measures are typically used when removals are difficult to enforce or when migrant presence generates local tensions. He called for urgent reform of Law 02-03, a process launched in 2013 under Morocco’s new migration and asylum policy, to clarify procedures and ensure rights protection.