I am Saad Alami Merrouni, professor of English and Cultural Studies at the Faculty of Letters and Human Sciences at Mohammed V University in Rabat, Morocco.
My research interests center around migration studies, with a particular focus on the dynamics of migration in Morocco. I am especially interested in how migration transforms the cultural and social fabric of Morocco as a host society.
I had the pleasure of collaborating with Dr. Sonneveld and the research team on the issue of migrants’ death and burial in Morocco. I did not anticipate that examining the circumstances surrounding a person’s death could reveal complexities as profound as those surrounding their life. Through both fieldwork and literature, I came to understand that processes of exclusion, alienation, and othering do not necessarily end with death but continue to manifest posthumously. This realization was, perhaps surprisingly, shared by several of the interviewees—all of whom are active in the field of migration in Morocco. Their reflections only underscore the originality and importance of the questions raised by this research project.
I believe this area of study deserves further exploration and will undoubtedly provide added value to migration-focused research in Morocco. Check out the publication that emerged from our collaboration here!