Monday, 14 August 2026
The weekend record set by 78,000 Moroccan migrants who arrived by sea in Ceuta last month was only part of a wider phenomenon: climate‑driven migration is increasingly being financed and promoted by a network of Instagram accounts that promise easy passage for hundreds of pounds.
Using a private dummy profile that mimicked a young Moroccan named Mohammed, the BBC’s correspondent found itself offered “information that will help you enter Ceuta” by an account that claimed to have assisted “many people.” The request came with a 5,000‑dirham (≈£400) deposit and a promise of a “sewer pipe” route. The account also asserted that it did not encourage migration to Ceuta – a contradiction to the large number of posts that made the crossing seem trivial and safe.
The Net, a cluster of around 40 accounts using the Arabic term Haraga – literally “burners,” referring to smugglers who burn documents to avoid redress – is largely run from Morocco though some operate from Spain or Italy. The accounts practice algorithm‑gaming: they curate intense, emotive images and reels that trigger strong emotional responses, thus increasing their visibility on Instagram’s feed.
These accounts have altered the normal narrative of climate‑driven migration, replacing the stark realism of dangerous sea crossings with glossy videos of men swimming, women walking past fences, and hopeful stories of weighing crossing to mainland Europe. The BBC’s Top Comment podcast (play on https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0p4dt6s) identified dozens of such profiles, noting an escalation of the crisis and the heightened risk to migrants.
Meta, the owner of Instagram, has lodged a formal complaint, saying it has a monitoring team that removes content violating its policies, especially the facilitation of smuggling. After the BBC’s outreach, several of the profiles were de‑activated. Yet the network’s content continues to proliferate on the platform’s algorithm, spreading false promise and raising the stakes for climate migrants who require safe corridors to move away from deteriorating environments.
The case underscores a growing intersection between climate change and digital misinformation: as environmental refugees seek safe passage, they are targeted by profiteering networks that design content to create a veneer of opportunity. Climate‑driven migration needs protection, but the digital age demands robust counter‑measure policies to ensure that the promise of safety does not become a fatal gamble.
