Mobility, Borders and Solidarity
Following the routes, we tried to follow different movements and observe them within the urban space and beyond. In observing how routes cross cities, we kept our gaze on the presence of borders and thus on counter-border practices.
The Morocco Antenna started the first node with the intention of observing solidarity practices in relation to migration routes starting from the urban scale. The idea was to look at the city and the interactions that are staged in the urban landscape focusing on three elements: mobilities, borders and solidarities.
Accordingly, we consider the city as a space of intersection between different routes and varying degrees of mobility and immobility. This enables us to observe how the border is reproduced in the urban space and what are concrete actions challenging the border.
With respect to the sub-Saharan people’s route, the focus was on the experiences of adventurers, who are irregularised by migration policies. The presence of sub-Saharan communities within Moroccan cities is historical: over time, different communities have settled in Morocco, supporting the integration efforts of those who intend to stay and the expectations of those who are in transit and find in the urban space resources and temporary hospitality. Thus, the city can be conceived as an intersection of different mobilities, of transit, arrivals, departure and circulations; yet, the modalities of space occupation and their temporalities are different. This presence is visible in the sub-Saharan markets within the suq in many cities, Senegalese and Guinean restaurants in Rabat, and many sub-Saharan stores. In looking at how such routes experience borders, Rabat has been an interesting space for observation. From here, we looked at unauthorised routes and how they ‘inhabit’ urban space. In this, the regulation of public space and the mobility control practices are conceived as border practices. In the case of the routes of Moroccans, the border is established along class lines; in those of sub-Saharans, there is a strong racial element.
Read the full reports HERE
