Morocco: Ripe for European Harvests
26 November 2009
Read by 1757 persons
Morocco is at the forefront, especially when it comes to organizing new ways of using the cheap labor that European Union countries constantly need. In January, the Anapec, a national recruitment agency created mainly for this purpose, carried out its first major operation: the recruitment of 5,000 agricultural workers to pick strawberries from the vast fields of Huelva, Spain.
"My 240 agents were mobilized and sent to rural communities," says Hafid Kamal, the director of Anapec, proudly sitting in his Casablanca office. "In less than two weeks, they pre-selected more than 7,000 people. Only women, as the Spaniards had requested."
Transportation
Why? "Strawberry picking requires more dexterity," replies Eduardo Toval, project manager at the Spanish embassy in Rabat. "In my opinion, the real reason is the concern for their return," corrects Hafid Kamal. "Moreover, they asked us to choose preferably women with children. For these women, the important thing is to be selected the following year. We tell them: If you don't create any disciplinary problems with the employer, you will be hired again."
From January 15 to February 16, all these women were summoned to a cultural complex in Mohammedia. Lined up in two rows, each underwent a three-to-four-minute interview conducted by a representative of the strawberry producers, assisted by an interpreter. The answer comes immediately: hired, or rejected. "We managed to process between 400 and 600 people per day!" exclaims Hafid Kamal, visibly eager to showcase his agency's organizational skills.
For the women selected, transportation to Tangier is handled by Anapec. Then, from Tangier to the Spanish strawberry fields, the producers pay. The workers are housed (but not fed), and paid "exactly like Spanish women, 35 euros per day for six and a half hours of daily work," specifies Hafid Kamal. "Do the math: in three months, they bring home the equivalent of twelve months of the Moroccan minimum wage."
The calculation is accurate. Except that with the Moroccan minimum wage at 2,400 dirhams (218 euros), "it is very difficult to support a family," as the director of Anapec admits with surprising frankness. He continues: "The Spaniards were so satisfied with our work that they have already ordered 10,000 workers for next year!" With a probable novelty: "The final selection could be done by videoconference."
All this recruitment work costs money. Is it covered by the Spanish strawberry producers? Not at all! In 2004, the European Union launched Aeneas, a "program of financial and technical assistance to third countries in the sectors of immigration and asylum." The objective is to promote legal but severely controlled immigration to avoid the permanent settlement of new foreigners. From this fund, Anapec and Spanish producer associations have already received 1.2 million euros to finance their recruitment over two years. The experience carried out for the Spaniards quickly convinced other EU countries; Italy and France are already in line. "We have received an order from citrus and kiwi producers in Haute-Corse," explains Hafid Kamal. "Four hundred men, aged 35 to 50, to work on harvesting for two months, in November and December."
On the French side, the operation is validated by the National Agency for the Promotion of Employment and Skills (Anaem), former Office of International Migrations (OMI), which has been issuing temporary visas to seasonal workers for thirty years (17,000 in 2006, including 6,000 to Moroccans). The big difference is that the OMI visas were nominative. Should we understand that France is reopening the doors to immigration? "This is a very political question that I cannot answer," replies Yolande Muller, deputy director general of Anaem, bursting into laughter. André Jenteuil, director of the Anaem office in Casablanca, specifies that Anapec has been instructed to select men "at least 35 years old, and married, to be sure that they will return home" after the harvest.
Prohibitions and restrictions
We can fear that the disadvantages suffered by the seasonal workforce recruited by Anapec are the same as those experienced for thirty years by seasonal workers with "OMI contracts" in the vegetable and fruit fields of Provence: prohibition of any claim, under penalty of not being hired the following year; non-payment of overtime; no prospect of career progression and salary increases; no entitlement to family allowances, unemployment benefits, and retirement pensions; access to health insurance only if the illness occurs during the working period; inability to obtain stable work in their country of origin; and sometimes appalling housing conditions (Libération, February 20 and July 3, 2007).
Doesn't Hafid Kamal feel that he is participating in the exploitation of his compatriots? "Absolutely not!" he replies as if the question seemed incongruous. "I don't see what the problem is. These women come from very disadvantaged backgrounds. If they accept, it's really because they need it." And, for the European consumer, this is obviously the condition for obtaining low-priced fruits and vegetables in their supermarket.
Published November 13, 2007
Bladi.net
"My 240 agents were mobilized and sent to rural communities," says Hafid Kamal, the director of Anapec, proudly sitting in his Casablanca office. "In less than two weeks, they pre-selected more than 7,000 people. Only women, as the Spaniards had requested."
Transportation
Why? "Strawberry picking requires more dexterity," replies Eduardo Toval, project manager at the Spanish embassy in Rabat. "In my opinion, the real reason is the concern for their return," corrects Hafid Kamal. "Moreover, they asked us to choose preferably women with children. For these women, the important thing is to be selected the following year. We tell them: If you don't create any disciplinary problems with the employer, you will be hired again."
From January 15 to February 16, all these women were summoned to a cultural complex in Mohammedia. Lined up in two rows, each underwent a three-to-four-minute interview conducted by a representative of the strawberry producers, assisted by an interpreter. The answer comes immediately: hired, or rejected. "We managed to process between 400 and 600 people per day!" exclaims Hafid Kamal, visibly eager to showcase his agency's organizational skills.
For the women selected, transportation to Tangier is handled by Anapec. Then, from Tangier to the Spanish strawberry fields, the producers pay. The workers are housed (but not fed), and paid "exactly like Spanish women, 35 euros per day for six and a half hours of daily work," specifies Hafid Kamal. "Do the math: in three months, they bring home the equivalent of twelve months of the Moroccan minimum wage."
The calculation is accurate. Except that with the Moroccan minimum wage at 2,400 dirhams (218 euros), "it is very difficult to support a family," as the director of Anapec admits with surprising frankness. He continues: "The Spaniards were so satisfied with our work that they have already ordered 10,000 workers for next year!" With a probable novelty: "The final selection could be done by videoconference."
All this recruitment work costs money. Is it covered by the Spanish strawberry producers? Not at all! In 2004, the European Union launched Aeneas, a "program of financial and technical assistance to third countries in the sectors of immigration and asylum." The objective is to promote legal but severely controlled immigration to avoid the permanent settlement of new foreigners. From this fund, Anapec and Spanish producer associations have already received 1.2 million euros to finance their recruitment over two years. The experience carried out for the Spaniards quickly convinced other EU countries; Italy and France are already in line. "We have received an order from citrus and kiwi producers in Haute-Corse," explains Hafid Kamal. "Four hundred men, aged 35 to 50, to work on harvesting for two months, in November and December."
On the French side, the operation is validated by the National Agency for the Promotion of Employment and Skills (Anaem), former Office of International Migrations (OMI), which has been issuing temporary visas to seasonal workers for thirty years (17,000 in 2006, including 6,000 to Moroccans). The big difference is that the OMI visas were nominative. Should we understand that France is reopening the doors to immigration? "This is a very political question that I cannot answer," replies Yolande Muller, deputy director general of Anaem, bursting into laughter. André Jenteuil, director of the Anaem office in Casablanca, specifies that Anapec has been instructed to select men "at least 35 years old, and married, to be sure that they will return home" after the harvest.
Prohibitions and restrictions
We can fear that the disadvantages suffered by the seasonal workforce recruited by Anapec are the same as those experienced for thirty years by seasonal workers with "OMI contracts" in the vegetable and fruit fields of Provence: prohibition of any claim, under penalty of not being hired the following year; non-payment of overtime; no prospect of career progression and salary increases; no entitlement to family allowances, unemployment benefits, and retirement pensions; access to health insurance only if the illness occurs during the working period; inability to obtain stable work in their country of origin; and sometimes appalling housing conditions (Libération, February 20 and July 3, 2007).
Doesn't Hafid Kamal feel that he is participating in the exploitation of his compatriots? "Absolutely not!" he replies as if the question seemed incongruous. "I don't see what the problem is. These women come from very disadvantaged backgrounds. If they accept, it's really because they need it." And, for the European consumer, this is obviously the condition for obtaining low-priced fruits and vegetables in their supermarket.
Published November 13, 2007
Bladi.net
