E/CN.4/2004/76/Add.3 page 14 room rented from Moroccans. In Tangier, most intending emigrants live in boarding houses. Many migrants apparently sleep in the street from time to time or seek shelter in the forest. Their irregular status and Morocco’s high unemployment rate prevent them from working. Those without financial resources wait for help from their family, particularly from relatives already settled in Europe, beg for a living or collect leftover food. Many migrants told the Special Rapporteur they had been attacked and robbed of their money or identity papers. 55. Their irregular status forces them to live in the shadows, isolated and abandoned. A visit to the forest of Gourougou, 12 kilometres from Nador, where sub-Saharan migrants take shelter while waiting for a chance to get to Europe, gave the Special Rapporteur the opportunity to meet irregulars and see for herself their appalling living conditions and hear their stories. She gathered that many of them are injured when they take refuge in the forests to evade police checks. Not only are they injured, but they live in the most appalling conditions, without drinking water, and the women are forced to give birth in quite unacceptable conditions of hygiene and without any medical attention whatsoever. NGOs working with this highly vulnerable group also told the Special Rapporteur that some have been found dead. Many women irregular migrants are apparently also victims of the prostitution business. In Tangier, the Special Rapporteur was told that the problem of prostitution was spreading. Apparently, the market is controlled by Nigerians and victims live in slavery, exploited by their “managers”. The Special Rapporteur told the local authorities of her unease over this problem and the vulnerability of the victims of prostitution, and voiced her concern for their physical and psychological integrity. She notes that the Moroccan Government denies the existence and extent of prostitution in Morocco. 56. The Special Rapporteur emphasized several times in the course of her visit that, as a State party to the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families, Morocco has certain obligations to meet, and should establish bodies to protect the rights of regular and irregular migrants on its territory and under its jurisdiction. She also recalled that part III of the Convention applies to all migrants on a State’s territory and provides that their human rights are to be respected. The Convention also establishes an obligation to cooperate with a view to preventing and eliminating the movement of migrants in an irregular situation. 57. The Special Rapporteur was told that Act No. 02-03 introduces provisions under Moroccan law for ensuring the implementation of the requirements of the Convention. Procedures for escorting migrants to the border and for expulsion have been revised, and avenues and time limits for appeal established.9 Following a decision to escort a foreign national to the border - which may not be executed prior to 48 hours after notification or, where an application has been made to the administrative court, until the court has ruled on the case, i.e., no more than four days after the date of such application - he or she may be held,10 if absolutely necessary and pursuant to a written, substantiated decision by the authorities, in premises “not part of the prison administration”, for as long as is strictly necessary for his or her departure.11 In cases of unauthorized entry to the country by sea or air, the law provides for custody in a holding area for as long as is strictly necessary for the foreign national to leave or for a decision to be taken on his or her asylum application. Appeal procedures for such cases are established and time limits set for procedures and for custody in holding centres.