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RABAT (Reuters) - The 27-year-old Nigerian plumber once dreamed Morocco would be merely a staging post to a better life in Europe.

Instead he lost both legs in a train accident, begs for a living, and is trapped in Morocco along with thousands of other illegal migrants who had hoped to escape African poverty only to discover Europe's doors slammed shut.

"I never knew Morocco was such a poor country. If I had known, I'd have stayed at home," said the Nigerian, who gave his name only as Bright.
"We live like animals here," said 19-year-old Moise from Mali.

The plight of men like Bright and Moise, along with those who try to make it to Europe only to drown at sea, will be discussed at a meeting of European and African ministers in Rabat next week to hammer out a strategy on illegal migration.

The ministers from more than 50 countries are expected to approve a draft calling for a crackdown on illegal migration and improved aid from Europe to help poor African countries.

"It will be an exceptional initiative which links the priority to fight illegal migration to economic development," said Youssef Lemrani, a top Moroccan diplomat, who is organizing the meeting on Monday and Tuesday in the Moroccan capital.

Driven primarily by Europe's anxiety about its ability to absorb migrants from Africa, the initiative is meant both to curb migration and provide money and jobs to encourage Africans to stay at home
"Something new is starting," a French diplomat said. "What is new is that there will be for the first time the countries of origin, destination and transit."

The ministers are expected to agree to clamp down on trafficking and to police coastlines better. African countries also want freer trade and more aid to kick-start promising industries, boost training and combat poverty.

"THIS IS ABOUT US"

But migrant rights groups say they fear Europe will focus on the anti-migrant crackdown while paying only lip service to aid. They say the draft proposals appear clear on security measures to fight illegal migration and vague on aid.

And skewing the results was the fact that Europe was united around its security issues, while Africa was divided -- Morocco's neighbor Algeria and some 20 other African countries will skip the meeting, mostly out of diplomatic rivalry.

For the illegal migrants in Morocco -- the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees estimates there are at least 10,000 -- the meeting brings little hope.

Razor-wire fencing, more radar and constant coastal patrols have made their dream of reaching Europe almost impossible.

But some are too proud to go home to their families empty-handed. Many cannot afford the journey anyway after handing their savings to traffickers.
Instead they say they forage for rotten chicken in dustbins, sometimes even kill and eat cats. Many were robbed or raped before they arrived by gangs who offered to help them.

Many migrants are doctors, nurses or teachers but can only find jobs that few Moroccans are willing to do -- manual labor, construction work, rubbish collecting.

In between begging and searching for work, Laurent Traore set up an association to defend the rights of refugees from Ivory Coast living in Morocco. He and other migrants plan to demonstrate outside the Rabat conference on Monday along with human rights groups.

"I don't know why we're not invited to this conference... This is about us," he said.

(Additional reporting by Ingrid Melander in Brussels, and Lamine Ghanmi in Rabat)


Source: Reuters.com