Despite negative feedback, the mandatory military service will proceed as planned this year.
Rabat – Morocco’s Minister of Interior Abdelouafi Laftit has announced that the lists of draftees summoned to fill the census forms for the 2019 obligatory military service have been finalized.
The minister said in a statement published by Maghreb Arab Press (MAP) on Monday that the lists were finalized by the ad hoc central committee during a meeting held on April 2.
The minister, according to the statement, advises young people aged 19 to 25 to fill out the form on the website tajnid.ma upon receipt of a notice from local administrative authorities.
The statement added that the minister also instructs those who were summoned to check their names in the lists of recruits on the website.
The minister suggests that young people who were not summoned for the service this year and wish to enlist, including young women, submit the form.
The minister also invited Moroccan expats willing to perform the military service to fill out the form.
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“Young people could get information related to the military service from the nearest local administrative authorities or from the information service set up in prefectures, provinces, and district prefectures, or from the website,” the minister said.
In February, King Mohammed VI asked the government to recruit 10,000 Moroccans in the mandatory military service in 2019.
The number of conscripts will increase to 15,000 in 2020.
Men aged 19 to 25 would be subject to a 12-month military service, in accordance to Law 44.18.
However, people over the age of 25 who were eligible for an exemption can still be called up until the age of 40 if the reason for their exemption is no longer relevant.
Many Moroccans expressed concerns over the law, with some saying that the would not be equally applied.
Some Moroccans have said that all young people, including those of wealthy families, should be subject to the law.
King Mohammed VI, however, reassured the public that the law will be applicable to all citizens from all social classes.
