Facing unemployment, Moroccans in Spain return home

06/08/2008

A Spanish programme comes into effect next month that will use financial incentives to reduce the number of unemployed Moroccan immigrants in the country.

By Sarah Touahri for Magharebia in Rabat – 06/08/08

[Getty Images] Despite having taken out loans to secure work contracts, Moroccan immigrants in Spain are returning home due to unemployment.

Thousands of families in Morocco who rely on income from migrant workers in Spain are bracing for the impact of a new programme that will send many such labourers back home. A downturn in the Spanish construction sector has left many Moroccan immigrants without jobs.

Of the 650,000 Moroccans living in Spain, more than 10% of them are now unemployed. According to an official Spanish report entitled "Immigration and the Labour Market", the number of unemployed Moroccans in Spain increased from 62,085 in 2006 to 82,262 in 2007.

In February of this year, Spanish intelligence services urged the government to reduce the number of Moroccans living in the country by encouraging unemployed immigrants to return to their home country in return for unemployment benefits to be paid by Spain.

Under this new programme, scheduled to begin in September, claimants will receive the equivalent of nearly 100,000 dirhams, and the promise of support in obtaining microcredit.

In order to be eligible to receive the unemployment benefits, claimants would have to cancel their residency and work permits and promise to not return to Spain for at least three years. After three years, programme participants may ask to return to Spain, but there is no guarantee that they will receive a favourable response.

"The amount of the grant wouldn't be enough to set up a business in Spain," said Spanish Labour and Immigration Minister Celestino Corbacho, "but in countries such as Morocco, it could be very productive."

"We’re not talking about taking unemployed people and simply sending them back to their countries. We want to look after their rights and give them two chances: the chance to set themselves up at home and the chance to return to Spain in the future," he added.

Sociologist Jamal Belghiti told Magharebia that this process will have several consequences for Moroccan society.

"Such a measure implies a number of risks which have to be considered," Belghiti said.

"The families who live off their relatives' material support will find themselves in a very difficult position. Apart from this, it will even change the concept of immigration for those young people who are desperate to get across the Mediterranean."

The immigrants concerned, particularly those who arrived in Spain recently and lack savings are clearly worried.

Fatiha Moubarak, the mother of two young men who moved to Spain three years ago, appeared completely helpless as she explained to Magharebia how she sold the family home to secure two work contracts in Spain for 200,000 dirhams.

"After they left, we bought another house with a loan and my two sons married, believing that their future was secure. Then a month ago, there they were, penniless again. And we don't know how we're going to pay off the loan and live decently."

Fatiha's story is similar to that of many others. Some families, however, managed to build up savings over the years they worked, and so their situation is somewhat less precarious.

Driss B. returned from Morocco with his wife and children without too many worries.

"After working for many years, I’ve found myself unemployed again. I could see that a situation like this was possible. So, I set up a small project here two years ago. But I plan to go back if things improve," he told Magharebia.

Young people who have been looking to secure a work contract in Spain are clearly disappointed.

Jamal Ramizi, a law graduate, planned to secure a work contract in Spain for 90,000 dirhams, but he changed his mind in the light of recent events.

"My grandfather took out a loan to send me to Spain, where I thought I’d be guaranteed some stability in my professional life. But we’re seeing that immigrants who have worked in this country for years are being driven out. For me, it would be better to set something up in my own country."