It is near the Oulad Ziane station in Casablanca, on a stretch of sidewalk where several young Africans wishing to reach Spain are killing time.
Most of them enter Morocco illegally from Algeria, and they complain about their very precarious living conditions and the racism of the inhabitants of the neighborhood.
Here, the toilets at the bus station are the only hygiene spaces to which they still do not have access. Without help, left to themselves, in this megalopolis of 4.2 million inhabitants, they say they are brooding on a daily basis. Some have lived here for five years.
The Moroccan human rights association regularly denounces the difficult conditions of its young people and calls on the authorities to integrate the most vulnerable into temporary reception centers. But the Kingdom, under pressure from Europeans, applies strict border controls and a dissuasive policy against irregular immigration on its territory.
Having become the refuge of its young people wishing to return to Europe, the district of Oulad Ziane is the scene of recurring tensions. The latest episode was the arrest in mid-January of six young exiles following violent clashes during an evacuation of a makeshift camp on the tram extension site.