Stranded migrants struggle to survive

(Vatican Radio) In a new report issued this week, the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) has urged the EU to stop turning a blind eye to the "atrocious treatment" of migrants stranded in transit states such as Morocco and Algeria. JRS says these migrants cannot move on because they are denied access to Europe and are unable to return to their countries of origin. They are denied access to basic social rights and services, are regularly harassed by the police and live in constant fear of being detained and deported. The author of the report is Stefan Kessel of JRS who spoke to Vatican Radio's Susy Hodges:

Listen to the extended interview with Kessel:

Kessel says although Morocco and Algeria have officially ratified international conventions on the treatment of refugees and migrants, in practice the situation on the ground in both countries is extremely difficult for these migrants, especially as they "don't have a right to work" which makes it very hard to them to scrape a living in their host countries.

Kessel says there is also a problem with brutal police harassment with a "rising number of raids" being carried out against them. "They are picked up on the streets or even in their homes and are deported to the desert in the no-man's land between the Moroccan and Algerian borders and left there." He says some manage to make their way back to towns or cities in Morocco or Algeria but "others are simply left to die."

Kessel says the JRS is urging the EU to rethink its present policy on the deportation of migrants to these transit countries beyond the EU borders because their human rights are not being protected there. "We are calling on the EU to stop forced returns to Morocco and Algeria because there is no safety in these countries."