Morocco’s Hidden Crackdown on Black Migrants During AFCON 2025

Morocco’s Forced Displacement of Black Migrants Ahead of AFCON 2025 Exposed

Morocco forcibly displaced hundreds of Black migrants in the months leading up to the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), a tactic human rights groups say was aimed at sanitizing the country’s image ahead of the high-profile football tournament. The operations, which targeted migrants from West and Central Africa, intensified as Morocco prepared to host over 600,000 international visitors, according to an investigation by openDemocracy.

The Moroccan Human Rights Association (AMDH) reported a sharp increase in displacements in late 2025, with security forces rounding up migrants—including those with valid residency permits—and relocating them to remote areas far from major cities, tourist zones, and key migration routes to Europe. The crackdown, AMDH president Souad Brahma said, was part of a broader pattern of intensified migrant removals during international events, diplomatic summits, and cultural festivals.

EU Funding Fuels Morocco’s Role as “Gendarme of Europe”

The European Union has funneled more than €2 billion into Morocco over the past decade for “migration management,” including border control and security measures. Brahma described this funding as positioning Morocco as the “gendarme of Europe,” a role that has increasingly relied on aggressive enforcement tactics.

The Moroccan Interior Ministry estimates there are between 25,000 and 40,000 “irregular migrants” in the country at any given time, most of whom have fled conflict, repression, extreme poverty, or climate crises in West Africa. Many hope to reach Europe, but Morocco’s efforts to curb migration have had a measurable impact: in 2025, the government reported intercepting 73,640 irregular migration attempts to Europe. Spain, which lies just 13 kilometers from Morocco at its closest point, saw irregular arrivals drop by 42.6% to 36,775 people last year, according to the Spanish Interior Ministry.

Systematic Displacement Without Due Process

Migrants described being forcibly removed from urban neighborhoods and informal camps, often without warning or legal justification. Dialo, a 40-year-old Congolese man who has lived in Morocco for 15 years, recounted being detained in 2022 while visiting a friend in Takadoum. Despite carrying his residency papers, he was held for seven hours before being loaded onto a bus with others, their phones confiscated and wristbands placed on them. Hours later, they were abandoned near Khénifra, a remote town in central Morocco, with no money, water, or support.

Another Congolese migrant, who spoke anonymously, said he had been displaced three times, sometimes for hours-long bus rides to cities like Agadir or Beni Mellal. “If you pay the authorities €20-30, they might let you go,” he told openDemocracy. “It has become a profitable business.”

The AMDH found that the operations disproportionately targeted Black migrants, including those with legal status, such as international students and refugees registered with the UNHCR. Other demographic groups were not subjected to similar treatment. Brahma said the raids were coordinated by multiple security forces, including the National Security, the Royal Gendarmerie, and the Auxiliary Forces.

Deadly Consequences of Expulsions

The forced relocations have had fatal consequences. On March 11, 2026, local authorities discovered four bodies believed to be migrants near a town on Morocco’s eastern border with Algeria. Three months earlier, extreme cold killed nine people in the Ras Asfour area, near the same border, according to human rights sources cited by the Moroccan news outlet Hespress.

AFCON and the Politics of Visibility

Ahead of AFCON, the AMDH’s Rabat branch documented the removal of 100 to 200 migrants daily. The operations reportedly halted about three weeks before the tournament’s opening match to avoid international scrutiny. “Migrants were pushed far from major cities, from airport corridors, from tourist zones,” Brahma said. “The aim is to avoid projecting the image of a Morocco that violates migrants’ rights.”

The tournament, which concluded on January 18, 2026, brought significant economic benefits to Morocco, with the government crediting it for a €1.5 billion boost. However, the post-tournament period saw a resurgence of displacements. Rabii Sadere, a member of AMDH’s Asylum and Migration Committee, said that in the weeks following the final, around 100 migrants were rounded up daily and expelled from northern provinces.

Racism and Rising Tensions

The AFCON final, which saw Senegal defeat Morocco 1-0, was marred by controversy both on and off the pitch. After the match, racist posts and videos circulated on Moroccan social media, often under a hashtag calling for the “deportation of Africans.” While Morocco is geographically part of Africa, it has historically identified culturally as Arab and Amazigh (Berber).

A 29-year-old Senegalese resident of Casablanca, who lives in Morocco legally, told openDemocracy that the post-match anger was overwhelming. “We all wanted to win, Moroccan and Senegalese, but after the match, the anger was overwhelming.”

The tensions extended beyond football. In March 2026, security forces in Casablanca arrested 43 migrants following clashes in the neighborhoods of Derb Sultan and Derb El Kebir, where stone-throwing led to injuries and property damage. Local media reported that authorities justified the expulsions as a response to resident complaints about violence and theft by migrants.

Concerns Over 2030 World Cup Preparations

With Morocco set to co-host the 2030 FIFA World Cup alongside Spain and Portugal, human rights advocates fear a further tightening of security policies. Sadere warned of potential measures such as specialized electronic visas and increased restrictions on the movement of migrants in irregular situations. “I fear a tightening of security policies,” he said.

Neither the Moroccan government nor the Confederation of African Football (CAF), which organizes AFCON, responded to openDemocracy’s requests for comment. The European Union also did not provide a response when asked about its funding of Morocco’s migration enforcement programs.

The investigation underscores the human cost of Morocco’s efforts to present a stable, secure image to the world—one that often comes at the expense of the country’s most vulnerable populations.

“Migrants are removed not only from public view but from areas linked to onward travel to Europe as Morocco tries to present itself as a reliable EU security partner.”

Souad Brahma, President of the Moroccan Human Rights Association (AMDH)