A trading partner of the EU, Morocco continues to be a relatively poor nation by international standards, although rarely suffers from the abject poverty of many African countries. Around 6.8% of the total population live in poverty (2025) and, as elsewhere, this level increases for those who live further away from urban areas. Many attempt to escape poverty by illegally travelling into neighbouring Spain and then into the deep European marketplace. But without papers they are at risk of financial and other forms of exploitation and, of course, enforced repatriation having left all their worldly goods behind in what they thought would be a one way journey. As in many countries witha poor demographic, Morocco has numerous street children who flock to the urban areas believing the streets are paved in the proverbial gold. There are tens of thousands of street children in Morocco with an estimated seven thousand in Casablanca alone.