This next story, represent my attempt to resolve a personal dilemma
by tying together some the different elements explored in earlier blogs. I have
been asked to help a small migrant association in Morocco respond to a grant application
issued by the EU with the specific aim of helping migrants integrate into
Morocco. The grant is politically motivated, since it supports EU policy of
externalising its borders (in this case by getting Morocco to police the land
and sea borders with Spain in order to reduce clandestine migration) and because
it supports the Moroccan Monarch’s vision of welcoming and integrating migrants
from sub-Saharan Africa into the country (and for which the government of
Morocco has conducted two exceptional amnesties in 2014 and 2017 that allowed
undocumented migrants to become registered). Morocco was recently readmitted
into the African Union, and I suspect that the improved treatment of their
fellow African’s may have played an important role. The migrant association
played an important role throughout all this through its advocacy for improved
migrant rights; by educating and raising awareness amongst migrants about the
exceptional amnesties; and has gained real hands-on experience of the
difficulties involved in achieving migrant integration.
Research I conducted earlier this year suggests that migrants
and Moroccans share an important characteristic – neither have conceptualised
Morocco as a migrant destination country. Certainly many sub-Saharan migrants
with whom I spoke explained that they often felt harassed or threatened in
Morocco and which contradicts the “terre d’acceuil” image the country likes to project. Furthermore,
this association has effectively run out of money, which means that it is at a
critical point since my research also indicates that leadership amongst sub-Saharan
African migrants depends almost exclusively on the leader’s ability to provide
resources and support to their community. Thirdly, I am conscious of significant
difficulties in communication, and this creates a pervading sense of distrust –
between migrants and Moroccans, between migrants and Westerners, and even
amongst migrants themselves. There are deeper issues at work here, which can
probably only be explored at the level of the underlying institutional systems.
This migrant association is extremely well-networked both
within Morocco and internationally and consequently discovers opportunities for
grant funding. However, the nature of multi-dimensional poverty seems, much
like the mythological figure of Tantalus whose reach for grapes that are just
out of reach, to condemn both to an eternity of suffering. Grants are not
neutral devices for combatting poverty since they require the acquisition and
mastery of social technologies that this association does not currently possess.
And the development processes that I am familiar with using and which are integral
to any grant proposal do not appear to elicit the kinds of critical responses
from my interlocutors at the migrants association that would allow me to help
them further. We are not, in other words, “turning together” by engaging
in a conversation. The Cynefin framework described in an earlier blog helps me here: if all concerned
understood the social technology of grant applications, then we would find
ourselves in the “simple” or “complicated” quadrants where either the
relationship is obvious, or just requires “expert” knowledge. However,
reflecting on my recent experiences gives me the insight that this situation is
best described as “complex”, verging on “chaotic” and I have to acknowledge
that any attempts at intervention represent attempts to explore this system,
and do not construe action, since I cannot predict the outcomes.
This EU grant aims to integrate migrants economically into
Morocco by facilitating access to employment, understood in terms of acquiring
professional qualifications, securing paid employment, and establishing
businesses. There is no mention of fundamental rights at work, let alone the
importance of the right to organise and collective bargaining. This important omission
suggests deeper institutional attitudes within the EU’s bureaucracy and
accurately reflects Morocco’s own failure to ratify ILO Convention 87. There is
an ethical dilemma as well that needs to be explored further. I have a
deontological approach to fundamental rights (see blog) and believe that
protecting these is always good, irrespective of the consequences. Furthermore,
I also take a situationist approach as far as migrants in Morocco are concerned,
in that – irrespective of any traditional prohibitions in Moroccan law for
non-Moroccans to organise – I believe that it is strategically important for
them to do so. The migrant association is different – they appear to be less
concerned about morals, but have clear views on right or wrong depending on the
practical outcome for migrants, suggesting a teleological approach to ethics
within the absolutist quadrant. Acknowledging the differences in our respective
positions is important because it provides clues as to what we value on a personal
level – I can commit to supporting their efforts when I see progress towards the
establishment of migrant collective structures; and the association can commit
to conversing with me when they see real practical progress that meets migrants’
needs.
