Adam is the fifth child of seven siblings. Born in Tangier, his parents are originally from Taza, a city in the Fes region of north-eastern Morocco. At the age of 12, Adam lives between the street and a small room that his mother, Fatima, rents in the medina of Tangier with the money she makes from selling flowers every night on the shiny new promenade of this port city. Abandoned by a violent and irresponsible father, they have survived by making the street their primary provider of resources. Worn out from so many births and repeated violence, Fatima never misses a day. From 7 pm to midnight, accompanied by her young daughter, she goes to work to clear her stock of roses as quickly as she can, reselling them to passers-by in the Tangier night for five times more than their wholesale price.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\u00abI am a flower seller. Not many people treat me well, I am often mistreated. Every day people driving luxury cars treat me with contempt. They are arrogant people who rob the country of its wealth. I don’t want my children to grow up in a country where there is no justice, no equality and no protection. Wherever you go, people treat you with contempt. I want all my children to leave and, if I get the chance, I will leave, too.\u00bb<\/p>\nTestimony of Fatima, Adam’s mother, September 2021.<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
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We met Adam six months ago in the Mohammed V hospital in Tangier. He was in a cast from head to toe. He had been hovering between life and death for a month after he was dragged along by the bus in which he was being deported from the border of Ceuta to Casablanca. Knowing that the coach would not stop in Tangier, he decided to jump off the bus without thinking that the driver would close the doors on him, trapping his leg and dragging him along under the still moving vehicle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Between 17 and 18 May 2021, Adam, along with 1,500 other minors and 8,000 adults from Morocco and Sub-Saharan Africa, swam across the border separating Morocco from Ceuta. Border controls were relaxed by the Moroccan army for 48 hours in a manner that was as inexplicable as it was fleeting. During those 48 hours, word spread through Morocco that the border was open. Forty-eight hours of risk and opportunity for those with dreams of leaving: thousands of boys and girls, young people, adults, families, women and sub-Saharan migrants. Forty-eight hours in which the Spanish army began to retaliate by returning the migrants \u2013 adults and children \u2013 like hot potatoes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Instrumentalisation of children<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
During that hellish week, the two nations of Morocco and Spain succeeded in instrumentalising children for exclusively political purposes, in grave violation of the higher interest of the child and contravening international conventions for the protection of children. The political implications of this migration crisis and the biased responses of international human rights bodies have thrown into sharp relief the power dynamics and imbalances present in international human rights law, and calling into question its universality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a report produced in June 2021, human rights associations active in Ceuta \u2013 Maakum, No Name Kitchen and Elin \u2013 warn of human rights violations in Ceuta, pointing out that “since the mass border crossing of thousands of people, either swimming or in small boats, at the Tarajal and Benz\u00fa checkpoints two weeks ago, we have witnessed how border defence, international relations and inter-country interests are evidently given priority over the lives and safety of people”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\nAdam’s story is a further demonstration of the failure of nations based on the rule of law, and of international law, to address the challenges posed by child immigration<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\nAdam’s story is a tale of collateral damage from the Ceuta episode and a further demonstration of the failure of nations based on the rule of law, and of international law, to address the challenges posed by child immigration, especially in border areas where people are most vulnerable and most invisible in terms of the exercise of their rights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Rassif, a transnational path based on Human Rights<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
The Rassif project aims to respond to the multiple forms of violence and discrimination experienced by Moroccan children throughout their migratory journey from their country of origin, both along the way and in the destination country [1]<\/a>1 \u2014 In Arabic, Rassif refers to a cobblestone road, symbolising the safety and support the project aims to provide to boys and girls throughout their transnational journey.\n<\/span><\/span>. Promoted by the NGO Casal dels Infants, the Rassif project is being carried out in conjunction with third sector partners on both shores, in Morocco and Catalonia, to guarantee the rights of Moroccan migrant minors and respond to the challenges posed by their transnational mobility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The fragile frontier between living in a family, taking to the streets to escape situations of violence, embarking on a migratory journey alone in order to survive and the events of that journey are key moments in the lives of the boys and girls the Rassif project aims to support. Human rights are the compass of the intervention at Rassif. We understand human rights as the conditions that ensure a dignified life and emancipation in different life areas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In this sense, two concepts in Arabic guide our vision. The first of these is hogra, literally, “humiliation”, which effectively describes the violence and indignities experienced by migrant children on a daily basis. The other is karama, literally, “dignity”, which is part of their quest to live their young lives with dignity. It is important to observe that being young is a right which must be lived with a future perspective, in which life projects are chosen and decided upon by the young person themself [2]<\/a>2 \u2014 Methodological note:\u00a0 Rassif-Transgang Project\/UPF. Jose Sanchez, Nele Hansen and Celia Premat.\n<\/span><\/span>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the case of Moroccan migrant minors, the hogra they suffer clouds their dream of building a dignified life in their country of origin and catalyses their migratory project as a survival strategy. The risks involved along the way are likely to deplete their physical and cognitive capacities to a dangerous degree, but these risks are experienced as an inevitable stage in the process of attaining their karama.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The abyss between the children’s expectations and the obstacles they encounter along the way leads to a process of marginalisation that weakens their identity and their capacity to empower themselves and move forward. Raising collective awareness and responsibility and promoting the recognition of migrant minors as full citizens by actors including nations, families and NGOs can help to reduce the risks encountered by children along the way and emancipate them as individuals, enabling them to broaden their opportunities and life choices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Effective empowerment and participation in these mobilisation and advocacy processes will broaden the children’s vision and activate the levers of change they need to navigate their way in a more conscious and considered way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\nAnother Gordian knot in child migration processes is the place occupied by gender in identity building among young people in different contexts, and the inequalities generated as a factor that further contributes to exclusion and vulnerability<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\nAt Rassif, we develop mechanisms to ensure the participation of young people and vulnerable minors as well as families with mothers and fathers of minors who lack social visibility due to their socio-economic situation. Participation in these processes is ensured by the collective empowerment experienced by the minors and their families as a result of the support provided. In these spaces for exchange, knowledge is shared and elements are contributed to increase understanding of the processes, thereby reducing and preventing the risks experienced by minors in their national and transnational mobility. Groups of community representatives are also formed by girls and boys who are motivated to lead preventive risk reduction processes in their communities and act as spokespersons for advocacy and mobilisation in collective spaces. A group empowerment process through the telling of their life stories ensures the effectiveness of the strategy.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
Rassif and gender inequalities<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
Another Gordian knot in child migration processes is the place occupied by gender in identity building among young people in different contexts, and the inequalities generated as a factor that further contributes to exclusion and vulnerability. Currently only 10% of migrant minors living on the streets are women. However, due to the extent of their vulnerability and the violence they suffer, we believe that adequate and specific responses are required to reduce these inequalities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
An illegal migration project involves a strong gender bias related to the danger and vulnerability to which the migrants are exposed, placing girls at greater risk of being assaulted, exploited or raped. Paradoxically, we find both boys and girls suffering sexual exploitation in both origin and destination countries: the right to invulnerability of their own bodies is endangered for both sexes. Gender discrimination and marginalisation is experienced on both shores, though the nuances vary according to the different material and contextual conditions [3]<\/a>3 \u2014 Sanchez, J., Hansen, N., Premat, C. (2021) Marroqu\u00edes entre dos mundos: j\u00f3venes no acompa\u00f1ados, derechos humanos y marginalidades. Rassif-transgang.\n<\/span><\/span>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We also believe that gender inequalities related to the concept of family and power roles within the family system are a cause of the social violence experienced by minors that influences and determines their migration project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n