Rabat – The US State Department’s annual Trafficking in Persons Report has recognized Morocco’s efforts to address human trafficking challenges, while still acknowledging that more work is needed to address some of them in the country.
Significant efforts
Emphasizing further improvement in efforts to tackle human trafficking, the report stressed that the Moroccan government is making “significant efforts to do so.”
“The government demonstrated overall increasing efforts compared with the previous reporting period,” the State Department emphasized in its report.
Listing Morocco’s efforts, the report highlighted the country’s action in improving law enforcement data collection efforts and disaggregating trafficking from smuggling cases in said data.
The efforts also include the approval of a “comprehensive victim identification guide” as well as an anti-trafficking strategy adopted in March of this year
Morocco has frequently expressed its determination to step up its efforts against human trafficking
With several international agreements, the government has pledged several measures to address all human trafficking forms.
Human trafficking comes in several forms, including sexual exploitation, labor exploitation, as well as other issues related to irregular migration.
According to a report from the UN, irregular migrants are “particularly vulnerable to discrimination, exploitation and abuse”
“Such migrants are also in danger of being exploited by crime organizations involved in human trafficking and migrant smuggling,” according to the UN.
Several reports have highlighted Morocco’s efforts in tackling irregular migration, as one of the common forms of trafficking that the North African country faces due to the spread of active human trafficking networks.
According to a recent statement from Morocco’s National Security Directorate (DGSN), the national police arrested over 32,000 irregular migrants, including 28,000 foreigners of different nationalities last year.
As part of its efforts against human trafficking, the DGSN also dismantled 92 criminal networks and arrested 566 people involved in similar operations.
The arrests represent an increase of over 36% compared to 2021.
As part of the measures put in place, Morocco also increased cooperation with its international allies to address the situation of human trafficking regionally.
Last year, Morocco and Niger signed a Memorandum of Understanding on the fight against human trafficking in Africa. The agreement came as a commemoration of the World Day Against Trafficking in Persons, which is celebrated on July 30.
During the signing, Morocco’s Minister of Justice Abdellatif Ouahbi cited the issuing of the Anti-Trafficking Law 27.14 in 2016, stressing its aim to establish a definition of “trafficking in persons” as well as its objective to protect the vulnerable victims of this criminal phenomenon.
He also reiterated Morocco’s appeal for shared responsibility, arguing that strengthening multilateral and bilateral cooperation is a crucial step in limiting the growth of human trafficking.
More efforts needed
Despite the existing efforts, the US report argued that there is still a need for more work to improve addressing human trafficking in Morocco.
Among its recommendations, the State Department stressed the importance of training law enforcement, child labor inspectors, as well as healthcare personnel to raise awareness of anti-trafficking laws.
The training should also cover victim identification, the report said, noting the need for increasing anti-trafficking campaigns.
A recent report from the Higher Commission for Planning (HCP) acknowledged the seriousness of child labor in Morocco, stressing that 127,000 children are still victims of the practice.
The prevalence of child labor varies between rural and urban areas, with rates standing at 3.3% in rural areas (104,000 children) and 0.5% (23,000 children) in urban areas.
The data also shows that boys are disproportionately affected by child labor, making up 81.5% of children in the labor market.
