Hommam Al Nassim 
An opinion Survey conducted by Princeton University revealed that 35% of Moroccans are considering emigrating, as a result of the deteriorating economic situation in Morocco.
The survey includes 2,400 Moroccans and showed that 53% of those thinking about immigrating intend to do so illegally, and the countries that most attract these young people are the United States (26%), followed by France and Canada (23%), and Italy and Spain (22% each). , and Germany (19%).
The survey indicated that the most prominent reasons for the desire to emigrate is the difficult economic situation, as the Moroccan economy was severely affected by the Covid-19 pandemic and the September 2023 earthquake, which killed 3,000 people, and inflation reached 9.4% in the first quarter of 2023, which severely affected poor groups. With rising fuel and food prices.
The rising inflation has greatly affected the poor, leading to an additional 3.2 million people falling into poverty or vulnerability by the end of 2022. Unemployment also rose from 11.8% to 13% between 2022 and 2023, which exacerbated the difficult conditions, especially in rural areas.
Due to the lack of immigration visas, many Moroccans resort to illegal migration by sea to Spain, with 25,800 Moroccans arriving in Spain in 2023, making Morocco the third largest source of migrants after Colombia and Venezuela.
Moroccans use sea migration routes through the Canary Islands or the Alboran Sea to reach Spain, and some attempt to swim to reach the Spanish enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla.
Migration stories are evident in tales such as Omar (21 years old) and Yacine (24 years old), who attempted to cross the Boran Sea from Saidia, Morocco, in May 2022. Despite their mediocre economic conditions, illusions about life in Europe and what they saw in videos on social media prompted them to try. They have not been found since then.
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