The borders are closed in all directions for the residents of Oujda. The border with Algeria is closed, ‘Fort Europe’ has closed its frontier to Africa and visas for the Middle East are scares. In possession of a European passport one forgets how life is limited when the borders close.

The political relationship between Algeria en Morocco worsened after a bomb attack in Marrakesh in 1994. An extremist group from Algeria was behind the attack and it became the argument for the Moroccan government to install a visa for Algerian visitors. The Algerian reaction to the visa and the dispute surrounding the Western Sahara was to close her boarders to Morocco. Politics between Rabat and Algiers have had big consequences for border towns like Oujda. Not only did it have serious economic repercussions for this busy commerce town, it has restricted the life of the inhabitants.

Oujda in Morocco to the neighboring in Algiers are at a distance of 3 km from each other. In the years that have passed many families have settled in both cities. What used to be a cab ride of no more then 10 minutes is now a mission. You take a 10 hour bus to Casablanca, where you take the plane to Algiers in order to take another bus back to the frontier. This trip is not only time consuming, with an average wage of €5 a day most people can not afford it. The other option is a clandestine visit but there are risks involved. The Algerian border patrol shot at everything that moves and the Moroccan border patrol arrests clandestine visitors and deport them back to Algeria where a prison sentence awaits them.

The borders with ‘Fort Europe’ closed several years back. In the past the director of the refugee organization ABCDS traveled through the hole of Europe in order to participate in conferences. At present his visa request are denied more frequently. As a Moroccan citizen it takes a whole lot of paper work to obtain a work visa for Europe. A passport, visa application, invitation and guaranty statement by a European organization. Why a visa is denied remains the question, maybe the guaranty statement is not sufficient or they reached their quota for approved visas. As a result Hicham is limited in his work.

The Middle East is no alternative. In Oujda we meet Mohammed, a young man who is very cultural active in Oujda. His passion is comedy. In Morocco it is almost impossible to be a professional actor or comedian. In Oujda this option does not exist. Yet Mohammed has claimed some international fame and has been invited to work in a festival in the Middle East. Unfortunately this does not belong to Mohammed his options; there are no visas for him for the countries where the festival is held. Why? Maybe his heritage from the North of Morocco, Oujda has something to do with it, who knows.

Hicham and Mohammed are not unique in their stories. Especially for people in the border town’s life is drastically limited when the borders around you close. As a European one hardly stops to think about the privilege that come with our passport. That at any point of time one can fly all over the world for work or vacation.

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