Dutch Party Calls for Ending Allowances to Non-resident Moroccans, Widows

Taroudant- A Dutch party presented a proposal before the Dutch Parliament calling for the end of the social solidarity convention between Morocco and Netherlands.

After the Dutch government’s controversial decision to reduce the financial allocations of non-resident Moroccan widows and orphans in the Netherlands (a proposal which the Dutch judiciary ruled in favor of) the Dutch Liberal party has proposed to cancel the convention.

According to Moroccan news website Alyaoum 24 the Dutch MP Anoushka Schut-Welkzijn will propose to cancel this agreement before the Dutch parliament next Tuesday.

The same source added that if the Dutch parliament votes on this bill, the compensation of retirees, their widows and children residing in Morocco will be decreased, on the basis that the cost of living in Morocco is cheaper than that in the Netherlands. Last year, the Dutch government reduced non-resident Moroccan widows and orphans’ social remunerations by 40%.

Before the court ruled in favor of Moroccans, the Dutch Social Security Fund proceeded in the reduction in compensations of about 900 Moroccan widows and 4500 children last year.

According to the Maghreb Arab Press (MAP), EMCEMO, the Euro-Mediterranean Center for Migration and Development, has called on the Moroccan government to defend the interests of Moroccan immigrants living in the Netherlands, who are threatened by the “unjust” laws recently enacted by the Dutch government.

According to the same source, attending a press conference held by a delegation from the center on Tuesday in Rabat was the president of the EMCEMO, Abdou Lamnabhi. He stated that the measures taken by the Dutch authorities are likely to affect the purchasing power of pensioners, allowances allocated to widows and children of immigrants settled in Morocco and the medical coverage they receive.