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Join on Telegram Denver- In the latest edition of the Trafficking In Persons (TIP) Report, the United States Department of State conducted an investigation of attempts by different countries to combat human trafficking operations around the world.
The State Department has released TIP reports annually since 2001, in accordance with the standards set by the Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000.
Officials developed a three tier system to quickly categorize each country’s progress in combating human trafficking operations. “countries whose governments fully comply with the Act’s standards” were labelled as Tier 1 states. Countries that demonstrate “significant efforts to bring themselves into compliance” were given Tier 2 status. Finally, countries that did not meet standards and were not showing efforts to do so were labelled as Tier 3 countries. Government analysts use the “3P” criteria, Prosecution, Protection, and Prevention, when assessing a government’s effectiveness in anti trafficking operations.
Morocco was categorized as a “Tier 2” level state by the report. Morocco has been a Tier 2 state since 2015, as it continues to work to address key issues in the nation’s anti trafficking policy. While the report commended Morocco for maintaining anti trafficking operations despite the impact of COVID-19 on government capabilities, it also noted that Morocco “decreased efforts to investigate, prosecute, and convict traffickers,” during the pandemic.
The report detailed steps that Morocco’s central government has undertaken including the establishment of “support units in each branch of the National Security Directorate to assist female victims,” “implementing a 2019 initiative to combat child forced begging, and launching an online portal detailing resources available to trafficking victims and for people to submit trafficking allegations.” During 2020, Rabat claimed to prosecute 69 trafficking related cases, including the prosecution of two peacekeepers accused of sexual exploitation.
In relation to the “Prosecution” criteria of the 3P paradigm, the report highlights that authorities in Morocco often do not “disaggregate between human trafficking and migrant smuggling crimes” when prosecuting offenders, making it harder to determine the true extent of human trafficking within the country.
Out of the 79 trafficking investigations in 2020, crimes ranged from “sex trafficking, forced labor, domestic servitude, and forced begging.” Convicted offenders were given penalties of up to 12 years imprisonment and fines reaching $56,070. The report determined Morocco’s penalties for trafficking crimes were “sufficiently stringent” in relation to other serious offenses.
In terms of the second “P”- Protection- Morocco was reported to be maintaining “efforts to identify trafficking victims,” but many victims coerced by traffickers to commit crimes still faced legal prosecution. This issue disproportionately affects vulnerable populations, such as irregular migrants.
The Central government “did not have formal victim identification procedures,” nor did it “provide psycho-social services” during the time the report was carried out. However, the government still maintained resources for female and child victims of violence, and referred many victims to NGOs in the country specializing in victims of trafficking . Still, many of Morocco’s foreign migrant population, composed mostly of Sub-Saharan Africans, reported to be fearful of being arrested and thus were reluctant to report trafficking incidents.
In regards to the analysis’ final criteria, Prevention, the report indicated Morocco was diligently conducting anti-trafficking initiatives throughout the country. It noted Morocco’s initiation of a national anti-trafficking plan, “which included coordination across relevant ministries.” However, the government still heavily depends on NGOs and foreign aid groups in order to comprehensively address human trafficking. Government initiatives were also started to provide education, anti trafficking training for law enforcement, and both online and hotline resources for potential victims of trafficking.
Within the country, undocumented migrants still remain the most susceptible to becoming trafficking victims. These victims are often exploited “as they transit through Morocco to reach Europe.” Moroccan women are also targets for sexual exploitation both abroad and domestically. Additionally, foreigners often travel to Morocco to “engage in child sex tourism in major Moroccan cities.” Lastly, Moroccan laborers working in Spain’s agricultural industry have reported both forced labor as well as sexual abuse, according to the report.
Morocco’s geographical proximity to both Africa and Europe has made the country an attractive transit point for transcontinental human smuggling operations.
The Moroccans Residing Abroad (MRE) sector of Morocco’s Exchange Office is the primary source of assistance for Moroccan victims of trafficking abroad.
Domestically, law enforcement personnel and legislators continue to work towards mitigating trafficking through continued implementation of laws such as Law 27.14 and Law 19.12. These efforts have brought limited success to the country, but as human trafficking cases appear to be on the rise, Morocco will likely need to invest more heavily into these prevention measures if it seeks to reverse the current crisis underway.
