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Morocco has reaffirmed its readiness to contribute to regional and international efforts to reach the objectives of the Global Compact for Migration.
The kingdom also pledged to share the experience it has accumulated in the field of migration with regional and international partners.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Nasser Bourita expressed Morocco’s engagement today, February 24, during a conference organized by the International Organization for Migration’s (IOM) office in the Middle East and North Africa.
The conference, the first of its kind, seeks to review major trends, challenges, practices, and emerging issues relating to migration governance in the MENA region.
“Morocco is ready to contribute positively and effectively in developing a strategy to implement the Global Compact for Migration in the Arab region, based on its experience and its affiliation to different geopolitical sectors,” Bourita said.
Morocco is an avid defender of migrants’ rights and integration, the minister added, recalling that the country launched a national strategy for migration in 2013. He described the Moroccan strategy as “a pioneer in the region.”
Read also: Morocco Launches Training, Integration Program for Sub-Saharan Migrants
The national strategy has allowed for the regularization of more than 50,000 irregular migrants in Morocco, Bourita stated.
The latest illustration of Morocco’s inclusive approach towards migrants, he continued, is their inclusion among the beneficiaries of the national vaccination campaign against COVID-19.
On the continental level, Bourita highlighted Morocco’s “pioneering role.” He recalled the establishment of the African Migration Observatory in Rabat.
Inaugurated in December 2020, the institution is the first of its kind in Africa. It will serve to collect and analyze data about migrants and migration routes, in view of generating better knowledge of migration and creating harmonized and efficient migration policies.
“The African Migration Observatory will allow for a deeper knowledge and greater understanding of the phenomenon of migration, and thus better governance between African countries,” Bourita explained.
Read also: Morocco, AU Inaugurate African Migration Observatory in Rabat
The minister also mentioned Morocco’s active participation in migration governance in the Euro-Mediterranean region, as part of the 5+5 Dialogue on Migration in the Western Meditteranean.
Regarding the situation in the Arabic-speaking world, Bourita emphasized the need to develop efficient migration policies due to the large number of migratory flows in the region.
“In the heart of the Arab world, there are transit countries, source countries, and countries of destination,” the minister said.
“These countries embrace all types of migration — voluntary or forced, legal or irregular. They also host large numbers of refugees who have been displaced in recent years due to the presence of ISIS in the region,” he added.
The Moroccan minister concluded his speech by encouraging countries in the MENA region to coordinate its efforts on migration issues in order to adopt a “unified and sustainable approach.”
