En route to Europe, refugees might head to Morocco

http://www.dw.com/en/en-route-to-europe-refugees-might-head-to-morocco/a-19132357

For refugees headed to Europe, the Aegean route is becoming less attractive. They could instead travel via Morocco, but experts don't expect the same number of migrants that have been heading to Italy and Greece.

En route to Europe, refugees might head to Morocco
Andreas Gorzewski
21.03.2016

The stream of refugees attempting to reach the Greek islands from Turkey continues unabated. However, in the wake of the new EU-Turkey deal on returning migrants who have crossed the Aegean Sea, their chances for seeking shelter in Europe have dwindled considerably.

Barriers, however, don't stop refugee movements; they merely reroute them - as Spain may soon find out.

As the eastern Mediterranean increasingly becomes a dead-end street for refugees, the route across the western Mediterranean might turn into an alternative. Spain must keep an eye on developments in neighboring Morocco, Spanish Interior Minister Fernandez Diaz has repeatedly warned. But experts say it's too soon to predict a greater run on Spainish borders.

The Strait of Gibraltar between Africa and Europe is only 14 kilometers wide. For many years, mainly sub-Saharan Africans have been trying to reach Europe in small boats. And crossing the sea isn't the only way to Spain, either, since Ceuta and Melilla, both towns on the North African coast, have belonged to Spain for centuries. Six-meter-high fences topped with barbed wire were erected to keep illegal migrants out. More than once, groups of hundreds of people have stormed the fortifications with ladders. Madrid is concerned that soon, more Syrians, Iraqis and Afghans will be among the crowds.