Rabat – On Monday, Minister of Foreign Affairs Nasser Bourita and the chairman of the AU Commission, Moussa Faki, signed a headquarters agreement on the African Migration Observatory.
Proposed by King Mohammed VI, the African Migration Observatory will be in Rabat. It will have the task of collecting data and developing exchanges as a well as facilitating coordination between African countries on migration issues.
Faki told the press that the observatory will be an important tool for analyzing migration and obtaining reliable statistics that are specifically African.
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He added, “It is time for Africans to manage this (migratory) issue on their own,” according to Maghreb Arab Press (MAP). Faki also expressed Africa’s “strong” commitment to the Global Compact on Migration adopted yesterday. He said that the document includes “important provisions to protect migrants.”
Faki also confirmed that migration is now at the heart of the global and African agenda, saying the adoption of the document in Marrakech is the best illustration.
Bourita said that the King had proposed the observatory and that African leaders supported it in July in Nouakchott at the 31st AU summit.
The observatory, according to Bourita, is the beginning of the implementation of the Global Compact on Migration, which emphasizes that better knowledge of migration will lead to better management.
At the opening of the conference, Bourita recalled King Mohammed VI’s message to the participants.
In his message, King Mohammed VI said, “Africa will not be the subject of the Global Compact, but the African continent will be an actor – a key one.”
Bourita said the King’s message carries “strong signals in terms of dealing with the migration issue.”
He added that migration requires shared responsibility from all affected countries.
