Impact of European Migration Policies on the Aspirations of sub-Saharan African Migrants in Presence in Morocco

Morocco, a large migration exporter and a transit passage for a growing number of global migrants, has been changing to a host country for sub-Saharan ‘involuntary immobility’. As the European Union tightens its migration and asylum control and externalizes its border management to southern countries like Morocco, these policies have reshaped these mobile communities' migratory strategies and aspirations. Through the analysis of semi-structured interviews with a sample of sub-Saharan African migrants, this research examines the impacts of the European migration policies on the aspirations of these communities in Morocco. Drawing on a theoretical framework using the Push-Pull and the Aspirations/Capabilities perspectives, this study explores the informants’ migration projects and tries to understand to what extent the EU migration policies impact their migratory plans and aspirations to either continue their migratory journey towards Europe or settle in Morocco. Data analysis revealed various push and pull factors influencing the informants’ aspirations. It also showed the major impacts of the ongoing European migration policies on the aspirations of sub-Saharan African migrants, illustrating how these policies pushed a significant number of these communities to consider settling in Morocco as the ideal alternative. The findings contributed to a deeper comprehension of the complex relations between migration policies and migrants’ aspirations.