Immigration to Fes: The Meaning of the New Dynamics of the Euro-African Migratory System

Abstract

Morocco has long been considered a hub of emigration, but only recently has it begun to be identified as a country of immigration. Increasingly, Sub-Saharan African migrants find themselves forced to settle in Morocco following the failure of a migratory project towards Europe, while many Westerners by contrast choose to migrate to Morocco for business opportunity and a better quality of life. Observing the case of Fes, this paper analyses the developing migration system and Morocco's role between the African and Euro-Mediterranean migration systems.

Keywords:

• Fes
• Morocco
• Migration
• Sub-Saharan African Migration
• Migratory Systems

Acknowledgements

This article is based on the results of collective research undertaken as part of the research programme entitled African Perspectives on Human Mobility: New Mobilities around Morocco – A case study of the city of Fes, which was the result of a partnership between the Research Team on Regions and Regionalisation (E3R), Mohamed V Agdal University, and the International Migration Institute, University of Oxford.

Notes

[1] The five attacks which occurred almost simultaneously on 16 May 2003 in Casablanca were perpetrated by approximately 10 radical Islamists originating from the shanty town Douar Thomas, claiming a total of 41 victims and wounding about one hundred.