Recently, particularly on social media, there has been a growing wave of racist comments and behavior towards foreigners, especially migrants from sub-Saharan Africa. This rejection of others raises many questions. Where does it come from? Did it exist before without being noticed, or is it a new phenomenon? But the most important question is how to remedy it in order to ensure true coexistence.
Because Morocco is no longer just a transit country. It has become, by force of circumstance and policy, a land of welcome. This change is shaking up habits and challenging mindsets.
In fact, in recent years, the Kingdom has become a place of settlement, particularly for nationals from West and Central Africa. Some come to study, others to look for work or to settle permanently. Faced with this transformation, Moroccans are discovering a coexistence for which they were not prepared. Daily life is changing, as are their points of reference. And when institutions fail to provide a clear framework, fear of the unknown turns into rejection. To understand this transformation and the tensions it provokes, we must examine our history and the political choices that lie ahead.
From its roots to the present day
Contacted by Médias24, sociologist Mehdi Alioua, professor at the International University of Rabat (UIR) and former president of GADEM (Anti-Racist Group for the Defense and Support of Foreigners and Migrants), points out that “racism is not new,” since society has long “classified people according to their appearance, skin color, or religion.” According to him, the history of slavery and the discrimination suffered by the “Haratins” or religious minorities have left deep scars.
“We have invented races that do not exist biologically, but which have existed legally and even almost theologically,” he explains. The term ‘Haratins’ is a “distortion of the Arabic word (حراطين), as Chawki El Hamel, the American-Moroccan historian at Arizona State University, so aptly points out.”
« He shows that this race was invented, explaining that it is a phonetic distortion of the Amazigh word ‘herdani’ or ‘aherdane’, which means ‘black’. But in Arabic, the term “hartani” was used to refer to former slaves who had been freed but continued to behave badly and could therefore be re-enslaved, even though they were Muslims. However, slavery is not permitted by Islam in general, and even less so when it comes to Muslims, » our interlocutor points out.
According to him, “it was necessary to find and invent reasons [for racism, editor’s note]. The main reason was that these people had black skin. And this has continued to this day. We still have cemeteries in southeastern Morocco where the ‘Hartani’ are not buried, even though they are Muslims.”
For Mehdi Alioua, “what is new today is that this racism has been reconfigured in relation to colonization and the post-colonial period.”
A “reconfigured” racism
This system of racial hierarchy was reinforced during colonization. “The French and Spanish in our country, and the British and Dutch elsewhere, recreated racial categories derived from colonization, separating Europeans from those referred to as ‘indigenous’ with a racist indigenous code.”
“So the racial issue has been reconfigured, but it has remained true to the original idea, only with the addition of capitalist modernity and colonization,” he continues.
He adds: « What has happened is that over the past 20 years or so, Moroccans have become aware of the arrival of populations from sub-Saharan Africa, mainly from West and Central Africa. They have therefore rethought the issue of racism in relation to migration. We are therefore dealing with what is known as xenophobia, i.e. fear of foreigners. But when we analyze the issue closely, even if we notice a certain amount of rejection of the French in people’s words, the fact remains that in reality, there are no discriminatory rules against the French or Europeans in general. On the contrary, they are put on a pedestal, as if they were superior to other foreign populations from the continent. »
“So, when we talk about migrants, we are referring to those with ‘dark skin’. We call them ‘Blacks’ or ‘Africans’, which is a euphemism given that we are from the same continent. Sometimes even more racist terms are used. And this is despite the fact that the majority of migrants are European. There is therefore a kind of obsession with migrants from West or Central Africa. And the focus is on issues of crime and integration. But these aspects are not discussed when it comes to other migrants. This clearly shows that the problem is primarily one of racial distinction and not one based on nationality, » continues Mehdi Alioua.
The complexity of migration flows
In that case, what is the solution? Should repression be used? For Mehdi Alioua, “nowhere, neither in Morocco nor anywhere else on earth, can despair be combated with repressive laws. They only increase it. So nothing will be solved.”
According to him, “the issue of freedom of movement must be addressed, because it is a fundamental right.” He refers to Article 13 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, “which Morocco has ratified and mentioned in the preamble to its Constitution.”
“This article is therefore considered to be national law, which states that ‘everyone has the right to leave any country, including their own, and to return to it.’ But this is not the case for freedom of establishment. It is not included in the declarations of fundamental rights,” our interviewee emphasizes.
our interlocutor emphasizes.
According to him, “a sovereign state has the right to know who can stay on its territory and who cannot. However, preventing people from moving around or leaving may create problems.”
« It is complicated for our country, as for others, to manage migration flows, especially when they are unauthorized or mixed; that is to say, within the migratory flow, there are also populations seeking asylum or other forms of protection. It is therefore complex for a state to allow people to enter and leave when they do not have documents, such as a visa, » he concludes.
The racism that is growing today in Morocco towards migrants from sub-Saharan Africa is therefore not simply a new movement. It is part of a long history marked by discrimination, racial hierarchy, and representations inherited from slavery and colonization.
It now takes place in a new context, that of a Morocco that has become a welcoming country, called upon to structure its migration policy to accompany these developments.
The response cannot therefore be stigmatization or repression. It must involve the construction of concrete mechanisms for integration and cohabitation. Living together cannot be decreed. It must be built.
