Rabat – King Mohammed VI has given his second report on the African Migration Observatory to the African Union (AU). The report came in a message Moroccan Head of Government Saad Eddine El Othmani delivered to the AU.
El Othmani is in Addis Ababa for the 33rd regular AU summit and gave a speech about the observatory’s establishment on Monday, February 10.
The observatory’s statute is set to be adopted during the 33rd AU summit, with the cooperation of the AU Commission.
As a leader in the AU on migration issues, the King stressed that the Marrakech Pact on Migration must have Africa at the heart of its implementation.
The observatory, a new AU mechanism responsible for technical issues related to migration, will be based in Rabat. The observatory’s “modern” headquarters will be inaugurated following its statute’s adoption.
King Mohammed VI noted that the observatory will be involved in data collection and promoting cooperation between African countries on the issue of migration.
Migration, he said, is “an important factor in development.”
Through his message, the King expressed his hope that the center would “highlight the positive aspects of migration by encouraging regular migration, protecting the rights of migrants and promoting investment new to development.”
The King proposed that the African Migration Observatory focus on four areas relating to escalating levels of international coordination: Clear national policies within African countries, regional coordination through regional economic communities, continent-wide vision-casting, and international partnership to facilitate migration.
Irregular migrants, from Morocco and other North and West African countries, often set off from Morocco on boats across the Mediterranean in attempts to reach Europe.
While primarily a transit country, Morocco has become a destination of migration as well, having regularized tens of thousands of migrants from other African countries.
Earlier on Monday, El Othmani met Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed at AU headquarters. The Moroccan head of government said the two countries must further diversify their cooperation into areas, such as fertilizers, agriculture, and renewable energy, where Morocco is a continental leader.
