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In a statement issued this week the Minister of Employment and Vocational Training said he was satisfied with the «positive» results of the program signed by Spain and Morocco’s National Agency for Employment and Skills Promotion (ANAPEC).
However, the campaign that sent more than 15,000 Moroccan women to work in Huelva’s strawberry fields in 2018, was highly criticized by Spanish associations.
This year’s campaign marked by the sexual abuse complaints lodged by some of these women shows that the program is suffering from several disfunctions, that are neglected by Moroccan officials, argue these NGOs.
Spanish media reported earlier this week that more than 2,500 women out of the 15,000 ones sent by the Kingdom refused to return to Morocco when the harvest season ended.
The Selection criteria is at the heart of the problem
The main objective of the agreement signed in 2001 between the two countries is to fight against illegal migration. Therefore, farm workers are forced to return to their country once the harvest season is over.
With the implementation of the agreement, the number of temporary workers who refused to come back to the Kingdom once their work was over in Spain dropped dramatically, reaching 90% in the first year.
This was made possible thanks to ANAPEC, as explained in 2008 by Kamal Hadif, the managing director of the agency at the time:
«We had already chosen women and men. But once in Spain, the majority of them just decided to stay there. So, we reviewed our selection criteria and it was fruitful».
Indeed, ANAPEC chose only married, divorced or widowed women aged between 18 and 40 years old who are mostly from rural areas in the Kingdom, have already worked in the agricultural field and who have children aged under 14 years old.
However, the criteria set by ANAPEC has been slammed by several Spanish NGOs for including single mothers. This was mainly included to force these women to return once their work is over. «It seems that when you have two children, you come back!», said a Spanish official.
But these regulations «pressure» these female workers and enhance their «vulnerable status».
In 2018, 17% of the Moroccan workers in Huelva did not made it to the Kingdom after the end of the harvest. NGO’s believe that it is due to their terrible working conditions, lack of training and their language problem.
Most of these women have no idea about their rights, they are completely isolated from the outside world in the farms and are often exploited by their employers.
For the record, this year was also a turning point in the history of the Spain ANAPEC agreement. 10 Moroccan seasonal workers filed a complaint in Huelva accusing their employers of sexually abusing them, and denouncing the bad working conditions.
