Rabat – Morocco has refused to become a third country processing center for migrants turned away by the UK.
Citing leaked Foreign and Commonwealth Office documents, The Times reported on Monday that Morocco was among the countries the UK had reportedly attempted to approach for discussions on the matter.
In its report, the Times said it had obtained “leaked documents” from government officials that suggested the UK approached countries such as Morocco, Tunisia, and Namibia to help process migrants Britain does not want.
As all three countries “explicitly declined” to the UK’s offer to become part of its portfolio of third-country processing centers, they were ruled out by UK officials as “non-starters,” noted the report.
This news comes as the UK, which recently signed the “Rwanda deal” to process a number of migrants in the East African country, has been searching for more countries to send its unwanted asylum seekers.
“The British government is now reportedly also considering striking similar deals with at least four other countries, modelled after the same principle,” Info Migrants reported on April 15, adding that the list of countries includes Armenia, Cot d’Ivoire, Costa Rica, and Botswana.
For decades, Morocco has emphasized the importance of embracing a philosophy of “shared responsibility” and humanity to tackle the complex question of irregular migration.
As part of this commitment to a responsibility-driven approach to migration, the North African country has repeatedly refused to become “Europe” or anyone else’s “policeman.”
Read also: Morocco Renews Call for Shared Responsibility To Address Irregular Migration
In 2018, Morocco’s Foreign Affairs Minister Nasser Bourita said the Moroccan government would reject any action from the European Union aimed at outsourcing migrant reception centers to Morocco.
The top Moroccan diplomat said that his country “rejects and has always rejected these kinds of methods for managing the issue of migration flows.”
Bourita made the remarks after meeting Spanish Foreign Affairs Minister Josep Borrell, stressing that the policy of establishing processing centers in third countries — cannot solve the issue of migrants, describing the moves as “easy solutions” and “counterproductive.”
Over the past decade, Morocco has increasingly become a destination country, instead of just a transit country, for waves of migrants, especially from sub-Saharan Africa.
As part of the country’s efforts to tackle migration with a humanitarian approach, Morocco has launched initiatives to regularize the status of undocumented migrants.
In 2022, King Mohammed VI renewed the country’s commitment to tackling migration challenges, notably calling for a joint EU-AU action to address issues hampering further development on the African continent.
“Finally, the pandemic has shown that in terms of mobility, migrants do not have a harmful effect on the economy. On the contrary, they have a positive impact in their host country – where they are often ‘essential workers’ – as well as in their country of origin,” the monarch said in a speech at the February 2018 EU-AU summit in Brussels.
