Challenges Faced by Migrants in Ceuta

We were shocked, brother, shocked by what's there. There is only suffering, there is nothing.

- Did you swim to get in? - Yes, I swam, brother.

I swam, I swam, my friend.

Okay, when you reached Ceuta, what did you find, my dear brother?

Everyone is against you, in that sense.

The residents there, the Moroccans there, the police, everyone, everyone is against you.

- Were there any assaults? - Yes.

One word, brother: we are crossing anyway, with or without them. May God make it easy.

- Brother, you said they beat you too? - Brother, look for yourself.

The first blow.

Here is my hand, let me show you, I'm bruised all over.

When you go, they look at you like an insect, they don't see you as a human being.

There is no humanity inside.

The locals of Ceuta come out and start trampling on us and beating us.

And the police and the military are with them.

The police and the military.

Look, I have Euros on me, I wanted to buy things, but I couldn't find anything to buy.

- Are the shops closed? - The shops are closed.

Here it is, and there is nothing…

- Is there at least a place to exchange money? - There is, but where is it?

A piece of bread and cheese costs 100 dirhams, bread and cheese for 100 dirhams, first of all.

- Are the shops closed? - They closed the shops on us.

- Is it gone? - It's gone.

Look here, ten euros.

Between us, brother, what would this ten euros get you in Ceuta if you entered with it?

This would have bought a taco. I wanted to buy a taco with it on my way back down.

By God, all you get there is a piece of bread.

You get bread and two pieces of cheese, at best, if they treat you well, two pieces of cheese.

But if you deal in euros and don't know the exchange rate, they take everything from you.

They take a lot from you because you don't know the exchange rate. I myself don't even know it.

When you exchange money, they take whatever they want.

May God bring justice. We are leaving today or tomorrow anyway.

I spent five hours in the middle of the sea. I crossed from the mosque, you know? Five hours.

Five hours.

Right now, my parents know nothing about me. Neither my parents nor anyone else knows anything.

I was there for three days with no food or anything. A boy died next to me in the forest, of hunger.

He died next to me of hunger.

And I haven't spoken to my parents at all yet.

- Just reassure your parents now on this camera. - Not yet, my phone's screen is broken.

The screen is broken, so the phone died.

Racism!

Racism, they mistreated us there.

They beat us.

There's nothing.

Racism, they mistreated us there. All these guys are getting beaten, brother.

Look at the injured ones.

The Moroccans living there hold pistols and shotguns, wanting to hit you with them.

A Moroccan!

He speaks to you in Darija, the people from Tetouan and Tangier living there.

All of them.

Right now, my advice to the people of Ceuta: if they enter Morocco, they'll die. Stay there.

Because they mistreated their own countrymen.

They mistreated us so much, it's a shame.

- Why do you think they let them treat you like this? We're Moroccans. - I ask myself that very question.

Now, just like everyone else went to look for their future and found peace of mind there, we too are going to look out for ourselves.

And it didn't work out.

We went there and they caught us. The police caught us and wanted to beat us, it's a shame.

This is a shame, don't lie.

- Is the cost of living expensive there? - Very expensive.

A loaf of bread costs 120 dirhams.

A glass of milk and a Moroccan donut for 30 dirhams.

Yes, brother, even if we were the sons of…

A kid in front of us, brother, they shot him with a pistol yesterday. The pistol was drawn, brother, I swear to God.

Come on, the police there don't beat anyone. They only fight with these kids from Ceuta.

They are the ones making moves.

And we are sleeping with the Europeans, and we are sleeping with the police, and the Europeans want to welcome us.

And they tell us to go back, 'I don't know Morocco or anything.' Moroccans talking to us like that.

Their navy.

Their soldiers hit you straight away, telling you, 'I don't care if you're a compatriot, get up.'

Here are the Moroccan kids living in Ceuta, here are Moroccans, kids from Rincon, kids from Martil.

They have passports and live there.

If you go up trying to hide, they'll throw a brick at you from the roof.

They tell you, "You are ruining our town."

You are dirty, it's a shame, honestly.

Good grief, my dear brother.

Forgive me, brother, I'm going to say something that people are actually wrong about.

The people of Ceuta buy cigarettes, I witnessed them, I witnessed them, and look.

Someone came and exchanged money for us, and I witnessed them when they buy cigarettes.

They buy it from the shop for…

Cigarettes for 15 euros, no, not 15 euros, five euros.

- So 50 dirhams? - 50 dirhams.

- A pack? - A pack.

And what's the difference? The difference, if we look at it, is only five dirhams, five dirhams, six dirhams.

And he sells it, he sells these cigarettes for 20 dirhams.

You go to the bakery, you get a loaf of bread for less than one euro.

He takes it and resells it.

Meaning, people need to change their way of thinking.

If you want to succeed, change your thinking, I'll give you the simplest solutions.

To put it simply, why did the police tighten security and close? Because I was among the first to enter.

This guy just entered yesterday, but I entered the day before yesterday.

When I entered…

Almost everything was open.

- Okay, what made you come back, my dear brother? - Why did I come back? What made me come back…

…is my parents, and I ran out of money. Otherwise, I know how to get food.

Because, you see, I have a place where I go, line up, and eat.

At the center, yesterday, I swear, in the morning they closed. Why? Because people broke in to steal.

They broke in. How can someone want to save their future, save their parents, and save themselves…

…and still steal?

Why, my friend?

The police treated us well at first when we just entered. They treated us well, the best treatment.

The best treatment. And my friend, if someone doesn't know how to swim, they throw him an inner tube.

They pull him out.

They treated us so well, but what's bad…

- Did you find the center in Ceuta full? - Everything is full. We visited all seven centers yesterday morning, and they were all full.

No one wanted to take us in, they shut everything down.

People spent the night right next to it, and the next day they came and chased everyone away like trash.

I told you, the ones who are bad now…

...are the Ceutans, the Moroccans living there. It's too much, this is unacceptable.

This is unacceptable, really…

They have absolutely no compassion.

People are shooting, my friend. There was a neighborhood right inside Ceuta.

They take people up there, and the police never go there at all.

They shoot at people, my friend.

Randomly. Are they even Moroccans, my friend? We only came to survive.

People just came to survive. It's only for a month or two, they should be patient with their brothers.

And they will get by, they won't stay there forever, my friend.

There is no humanity, my friend. By God, there is no humanity.

- Are there any burns? - Right in front of us, I'm telling you, it's in a video that was shared, almost everyone saw it.

They came to him, and with his hands on his ears, our guy fell from the bus.

Whether that guy died or not, God knows, one of them was completely...

His testicles were crushed here, really, by God, the Moroccans.

As for the police, as for the Spanish forces...

By God, we saw nothing but good from them, I'm telling you how it is.

- Will you try again, my dear brother? - I won't lie to you, my brother.

I'm thinking of migrating legally.

I've been everywhere, I went to Laayoune, I spent so much, I lost a fortune.

This one seemed free to me, so I thought I'd try it, but it wasn't meant to be, but if there's something legal, I'm down.

If there isn't anything legal...

Just leave me, my brother, in my country next to my mother, because as I told you, the only factor is the people who love me, my phone won't stop ringing.

Let me show you how many calls, it really hasn't stopped.

Since yesterday, when they saw the news, since yesterday…

Only my parents are keeping me here. If it weren't for them…

- Did you reassure your mother, brother? - I just spoke to her. I told her everything's fine and I'm coming down.

- May God make it easy for you, brother. - May God protect you.