regional hub for the auto industry,<\/a> Morocco\u2019s economy is expected to grow by 4.5% this year. But policymakers face a persistent challenge: turning that growth into jobs that offer higher wages. <\/p>\nAkbili was working the 2 p.m. to 10 p.m. shift when he saw Facebook posts about people crossing into Ceuta. He wanted to try his luck in hopes of finding a job that could help his mother pay for hernia surgery.<\/p>\n
\u201cHis mind changed completely. He went from someone who wasn\u2019t thinking about illegal migration to wanting to go by all means,\u201d Abdelhakim Saadaoui, a relative and Akbili\u2019s apartment mate, told The Associated Press.<\/p>\n
Akbili persuaded Saadaoui to go with him. On July 31, they paid a driver $129 to take them near the border with Ceuta \u2014 the equivalent of two months\u2019 rent.<\/p>\n
When they arrived, Saadaoui said, there was complete chaos. From a distance, the crowds looked like ants, he said, as streets filled with people heading toward the frontier. Police fired stun grenades and tear gas in an attempt to disperse them, he said.<\/p>\n
Saadaoui decided not to continue. Akbili went on. The two remained in contact by phone.<\/p>\n
Then Akbili stopped answering.<\/p>\n
A Moroccan Interior Ministry document obtained by the AP says Akbili died at midnight on July 31. His death was classified as \u201cunnatural,\u201d attributed to \u201csevere head trauma.\u201d He was buried in his hometown of Khenifra.<\/p>\n
His family was told he died after falling from a cliff. The Interior Ministry said one of the 11 deaths recorded on the Moroccan side was caused by a cliff fall.<\/p>\n
But a cousin suspects foul play and wants further investigation.<\/p>\n
\u201cHis phone and wallet stayed intact. How is it possible for someone who fell from a cliff?\u201d Zakaria Akbili told the AP.<\/p>\n
Hamza Haibouri, who played soccer for Morocco’s second-division Kenitra Athletic Club, was buoyed by dreams of making it big playing in Europe, said his childhood friend Bilal Ratib. <\/p>\n
The 28-year-old Haibouri was vacationing in Martil, a Moroccan beach town about 25 miles (40 kilometers) from Ceuta, when he saw people heading there and decided to join them. His death in the frenzied attempt to cross was announced by the soccer team\u2019s fan club.<\/p>\n
Ratib said Haibouri visited France when he was young and had always wanted to return. <\/p>\n
\u201cHe always had this idea of living abroad and going to France, to get better soccer and a better life,\u201d Ratib said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was a great man, even when we were young and reckless, he would always go to the mosque early for the first prayer,\u201d Ratib said. \u201cHe was deeply religious.\u201d <\/p>\n
Haibouri, whose income came entirely from soccer, earned around $540 a month when he played, but he hadn’t played at all this year, Ratib said.<\/p>\n
Abdelouahed Iken, 19, was finishing high school in the southern city of Agadir. He regularly admired photos on Facebook posted by a friend who had migrated to Italy.<\/p>\n
When he heard rumors the Ceuta border was open, he asked his mother for money to travel to his home village.<\/p>\n
But instead of going home, Iken traveled more than 530 miles (850 kilometers) north to Ceuta with friends, according to family member Housine Zligui. Zligui said he learned about Iken\u2019s death on Facebook, and the family is now working to bring his body home.<\/p>\n
Iken could not swim, so he bought a life jacket for the crossing. Friends who returned told the family they saw him struggling in the water before he drowned, Zligui said.<\/p>\n
For many Moroccans, Europe represents the possibility of work, stability and a better future. Those who make it abroad often return home with designer clothes, cars and euros, becoming symbols of success \u2014 and envy.<\/p>\n
Money sent home by Moroccans living overseas reached $6.6 billion in the first six months of this year, according to government figures, equivalent to more than 3% of the country\u2019s GDP.<\/p>\n
Families were asked to pay some 2,500 euros in repatriation costs to bring the bodies of their loved ones home from Ceuta, according to Ratib and Zligui.<\/p>\n
The AP was unable to confirm the cost. But repatriating a body from Spain to Morocco generally requires authorization from the Moroccan Consulate and a Spanish mortuary transit document. Moroccan rules typically call for a sealed coffin and a certificate confirming the death wasn\u2019t caused by a contagious disease.<\/p>\n
A spokesperson for Ceuta\u2019s government said Friday the paperwork to repatriate the bodies of those who died in the crossing was complete, but Morocco\u2019s government had not accepted it. The Moroccan government did not respond to an AP email with detailed questions about what was holding up repatriation, who was responsible for covering the costs and whether the Moroccan government would assist families in paying to have their loved ones returned.<\/p>\n
Autopsies on 82 migrants brought ashore in Spain have been completed, said Manuel Aparcero, director of Ceuta\u2019s forensic team.<\/p>\n
Haibouri\u2019s sister underwent DNA testing so that Ceuta authorities could confirm her brother\u2019s identity. Authorities in Ceuta gave Haibouri\u2019s sister his identification card and driver\u2019s license but did not allow her to see his body, Ratib said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt will take around 20 days or more\u201d for the body to be returned, he said. \u201cYou can\u2019t imagine the families’ suffering.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Trade Union Network for Migration in Morocco called on Morocco and Spain to cover the costs of returning the dead to their families.<\/p>\n
Back in Tangier, Saadaoui moved in with co-workers. He couldn’t bear living without Akbili.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was telling me at the border, \u2018I will never come back,\u2019\u201d Saadaoui said. \u201cAnd indeed, he will never come back.\u201d<\/p>\n
___<\/p>\n
Associated Press journalist Suman Naishadham in Madrid contributed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CASABLANCA, Morocco — Ayoub Akbili needed money for his mother\u2019s surgery. Hamza Haibouri wanted a shot at a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":384789,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[40],"tags":[33899,39478,762,1747,165,261,3092,242],"class_list":["post-384788","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-morocco","tag-border-security","tag-compensation-and-benefits","tag-general-news","tag-immigration","tag-morocco","tag-politics","tag-teens","tag-world-news"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@africa\/117119503758847102","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/384788","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=384788"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/384788\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/384789"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=384788"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=384788"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=384788"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}