Moroccan households journey to Ceuta border looking for lacking family members

More than two weeks after a wave of migrants arrived in Ceuta, Spain, from Morocco, households met by FRANCE 24 Tuesday had been nonetheless ready for information of their family members. Parents and siblings had travelled to hospitals, police stations and the border looking for info.

In complete, greater than 70,000 individuals crossed the border between Morocco and the Spanish enclave on July 30 and 31. Almost all of them have left, however between 2,000 and 5,000 stay in Ceuta.

Read extraIn Ceuta, migrants stranded at Europe’s gates await their destiny

The loss of life toll from the disaster given by officers is now 91, together with 80 in Spain and 11 on the Moroccan facet. However, the Moroccan Association for Human Rights, a non-governmental group, estimated the death toll to be at least 141.

Spanish authorities discovered dozens of our bodies at sea however are having problem figuring out the victims, leaving many households anticipating the worst.

Organising burials

Though some our bodies have but to be recognized, a court docket order was issued to start burials on Thursday, Saïd Mohammed Mohammed, the supervisor of the Sidi Mbarek Muslim cemetery in Ceuta, stated. The “more than 80 bodies” could not all be buried that day due to a lack of resources, he added.

Despite many missing persons notices, calls and photographs, the cemetery manager said he could no longer wait for families to arrive. “There are bodies whose identities are unknown, and we do not know who they are, but our responsibility is limited to burial,” said Mohammed. “We are not responsible for searching for the missing.”

“Even if a person is buried without being identified first, they are assigned a number and have a file in court with all the relevant information. Here at the cemetery, we keep a record of this number. So, if a family comes forward later to claim a loved one, we can look up the number, confirm the identity and transfer the remains,” he said.

‘His friend could swim well, but my son couldn’t’

In Fnideq, a city in northern Morocco near the border with Ceuta, Rahali spent nearly per week gathering info on the destiny of his son Zakaria.

“Zakaria left Tangier with his friend on Throne Day, July 30,” he stated. “They were working and, on that day, people started talking about the border being open at Ceuta … The streets were packed. His friend told him, ‘Let’s go’, and they took a taxi to Tétouan (36km south of the border). From there, they continued on foot to the border.”

“When they arrived, they found the crossing – which was said to be open – closed. It was around 1am. They saw a young man near a wall. He told them that people were trying to cross. So they wrapped their phones up to protect them from the water, then went into the sea,” Rahali defined, holding again his tears. “His friend could swim well, but my son couldn’t. Once in the water, they were separated by the crowd. His friend came out of the sea, but he couldn’t find my son. He looked for him among the migrants, in vain.”

Since then, Rahali has had no information of his son: “His phone rang on Thursday and Friday. But on Saturday, around 10am, the line went dead. To this day, we have no information.”

Rahali, overcome with grief, stated that he travelled to Tangier and Tétouan, looking out hospitals for any clues.

“The police directed me to the place where bodies were transferred. I asked about my son, I gave them his age and his documentation. They told me they were recording fingerprints and conducting analyses to identify people, to know their place of residence and their age.”

But that was to no avail. “Even the people we know whom we asked to look for him in Ceuta haven’t been able to tell us anything.”

Social media as a search instrument

Since July 31, social media is getting used as a instrument for looking for lacking family members. Photos of kids and younger adults flow into on Facebook, Instagram, TikTook and different platforms, together with messages of misery.

Mehdi, 32, has disappeared. His household discovered a video of him on social media the place he may be seen rising from the ocean, his sister Zineb stated.

“I checked that he was in the video and I also found another photo published by some young people on Instagram where he’s seen among a group of migrants. But 18 days have gone by without any news.”

While the household continues to seek for any clues, their mom resides “a very difficult situation, both physically and mentally”, Zineb stated.

A particular workplace for lacking individuals

Spanish authorities in Ceuta have thus created a particular workplace for lacking individuals which receives stories from households and collects images and private info, together with distinctive marks resembling tattoos, clothes and belongings.

Read extra‘We won’t return’: Young Moroccan migrants in Ceuta refuse to desert their European dream

Biological samples are additionally collected from members of the family to match them to the DNA of unidentified our bodies. According to Spanish authorities, for the reason that opening of the workplace, 32 instances of lacking individuals have been recorded, 29 of which match DNA registered of their database. The first physique identification utilizing this technique was confirmed on August 5.

Meanwhile, forensic consultants from the Spanish Civil Guard are working to match fingerprints and organic knowledge, with the potential of sending details about the victims to Moroccan authorities to assist establish them.

Across the border, for dozens of Moroccan households, time stopped when their youngsters got down to sea.

This article was tailored from the unique in Arabic by Simon Feisthauer-Fournet.