Today, EuroMed Rights, the Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team (EAAF) and the University of Chicago Law School Global Human Rights Clinic are publishing two specialised country reports on the legal frameworks of Morocco and Spain concerning missing or deceased migrants. These reports follow the recent publication of our study ‚Legal Framework Concerning Migrants Travelling from Africa to South-Western Europe’ which offers a general overview of international legal frameworks concerning missing migrants. They provide a deeper, country-specific analysis of key implementation gaps and challenges faced by families in the search of their loved ones.
According to the IOM’s Missing Migrants project, more than 4,485 migrants have died or gone missing in the Western Mediterranean, since 2014, a figure that falls well below the reality as many cases go unreported or are not taken into account.
The studies lay out the existing country-specific legal frameworks, as well as key challenges to be addressed.
In the case of Morocco, the report highlights the need for specific protocols to govern inter-state cooperation, systematic registration and identification, as well as a lack of effective communication between Moroccan authorities and the families of missing migrants.
In the case of Spain, the report underlines the need for the establishment of a civil, non-police organisation acting as a unified point of contact for relatives of missing or deceased persons in a migratory context, as well as creating mechanisms of collaboration with civil society organisations, institutions and entities in the countries of origin, transit and destination.
Read the report on Morocco in English, French and Arabic.
Read the report on Spain in English, Spanish, French and Arabic.