Rabat – Morocco has renewed its concerns about the challenges the Sahel region continues to face, including security threats.
King Mohammed VI renewed the concerns during his speech for the 48th anniversary of the Green March, where he also reiterated Morocco’s commitment to contributing to regional peace and security.
Recalling Morocco’s commitment towards African development, King Mohammed VI said that its plans for the continent’s prosperity are among the reasons that prompted Morocco to launch an initiative for the “creation of an institutional framework that brings together the twenty-three African countries bordering the Atlantic.”
“The aim is to promote security, stability, and shared prosperity,” the King said, noting that the challenges facing the countries in the Sahel region “will not be solved by security and military measures alone” but rather based on cooperation and shared responsibility.
The monarch thus added that he suggested the launch of an international initiative to enable the Sahel countries to have access to the Atlantic Ocean.
“The success of such an initiative, however, hinges on upgrading infrastructure in the Sahel countries and seeking to connect it to transport and communication networks existing in the region,” he emphasized.
Morocco has been reiterating the importance of tackling security threats and other lingering issues affecting the development of the region.
In July, Morocco called on the African Union’s Peace and Security Council to prioritize a coordinated and viable regional approach to tackle the growing threats of terrorism and violent extremism in the Sahel.
A Moroccan delegation emphasized the importance of boosting mechanisms to tackle the challenges facing the region, calling for the AU and international community to step up their efforts to contribute to establishing peace and stability in the region.
Moroccan security experts have been also reiterating the urgent need for a developed mechanism based on a shared responsibility to tackle security and economic threats in the region.
Last year in April, chief of Morocco’s Central Bureau of Judicial Investigations (BCIJ) Habboub Cherkaoui reiterated the North African country’s stance, calling on the international community to adopt a “shared responsibility mechanism to tackle insecurity in the Sahel.”
Cherkaoui pointed to the presence of terror groups including ISIS in the region, emphasizing that the terrorist threat in Sahel is dangerous to both Africa and its nearby Arab and European countries.
“The focus that bothers and worries Morocco the most, currently, is the Sahel area, which has become a safe and fertile refuge for terrorist networks,” the BCIJ chief said.
He noted that the region has also hosted other organized crime networks active in “human trafficking, irregular migration, as well as armed and drug trafficking.”
