Morocco: An FTZ in Northern Town of Fnideq to Combat Smuggling?

Moroccan MPs have called for the setting up of a Free Trade Zone (FTZ) in the northern town of Fnideq in a bid to combat the smuggling of goods and end the ordeal of the women who carry heavy packages as they cross the border between the city of Sebta, under Spanish control, and Morocco.

In their report released lately after a fact-finding mission carried out between July and October 2018 on the situation of “mule women”, the MPs stressed the need to set up economic alternatives in the provinces of Tetouan and M’diq-Fnideq.

The conclusions of the report fuelled debates among members of the foreign Affairs committee at the House of Representatives convened in presence of minister of Solidarity, Social Development, Equality and Family.

The document says that 3,500 women and 200 minors cross daily the Bab Sebta border post, carrying heavy bales of goods and packages on their backs for merchants and retailers in Northern Morocco.

“This form of smuggling impacts not only the situation of women and men carrying goods, but also affects trade flows between the provinces of Tetouan and M’diq-Fnideq”, deplored the authors of the report.

They called for encouraging employment-generating activities (EGAs) in Tetouan and M’diq-Fnideq provinces and the establishment of an industrial zone to combat the illicit trade of goods and smugglers who exploit the vulnerability of poor minors and the “porteadoras” or mule women, most of whom are widows, divorcees, or have husbands too ill to work or in jail.

 

Their job is dangerous. In 2018, three women died in a stampede in the rush to get through the Sebta crossing border.

According to the fact-finding mission, the “women porters” spend sometimes up to three nights waiting to cross the border post wherein they suffer abuse, harassment, robbery …

According to information relayed by Spanish media in December, Morocco has permanently closed the crossing points of Sebta and Melilla to smuggling.

The president of the Sebta residents’ association has reportedly said that Morocco decided to end the flow of goods through the Sebta and Melilla crossings for several reasons.

Besides, the losses caused by smuggling at the Sebta crossing point were estimated by the Director General of the Customs and Indirect Tax Administration at €730 million.