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Twenty-six migrants from sub-Saharan African countries died in Morocco’s eastern region between January and April 2026, including a woman and a child no older than three, according to the Oujda branch of the Moroccan Association for Human Rights. The association said only four of the victims have been identified so far.
In a statement, the NGO said the bodies were discovered in several locations, including 15 in the Ras Asfour area near the town of Touissit in Jerada province. Another 11 bodies were found in Figuig province, including six in Ain Chaair and five in Bouarfa.
The association suggested that harsh weather conditions, including low temperatures, rain, and snowfall, may have contributed to the deaths, while noting the absence of official data establishing the exact causes.
According to the statement, 16 bodies were buried in the city of Jerada in the presence of members of the association’s Oujda branch, while the remaining victims were laid to rest in Oujda, Ain Chaair, and Bouarfa.
The NGO added that the latest toll comes on top of the deaths of 21 other migrants in the Ras Asfour area between November 27 and December 31, 2025, cases it had previously documented.
This brings the total number of deaths among sub-Saharan migrants in Morocco’s eastern region between November 2025 and April 2026 to around 47, including three women and one child. Thirty-six of the deaths were recorded in the Ras Asfour area alone.
The association said the high death toll over a period of just five months raises questions about the responsibility of both the Moroccan state and the international community, particularly European countries. It criticized increasingly restrictive border-control policies, arguing that they push migrants toward dangerous routes.
The NGO also renewed its call for the implementation of recommendations issued by the UN Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families, while urging authorities to publish data on the causes of the deaths.
