Doha – A restricted report from the European Commission, obtained by the organization Statewatch, reveals that Morocco has one of the lowest cooperation rates in accepting the return of its citizens who entered the EU irregularly.
The study, which analyzed the cooperation of 34 countries on deportations, found that Morocco accepted only 8% of return decisions issued by EU states in 2023 for Moroccan nationals.
The low acceptance rate is notable considering that, according to the Spanish newspaper El País, which reported on the study’s findings, Morocco had the highest number of citizens irregularly crossing into Europe among African countries.
In 2023, EU countries ordered 35,065 Moroccans to leave their territory, but only 2,760 were actually deported back to Morocco.
The report also highlighted the varying levels of cooperation from Morocco in identifying its nationals pending deportation, a crucial step in the return process.
In 44% of cases, EU member states rated Morocco’s cooperation as poor or very poor. However, in 46% of cases, the collaboration was deemed good or very good, according to the report.
Spain, in particular, has faced challenges in returning irregular Moroccan migrants.
According to a previous official report, Spanish authorities have returned 1,612 Moroccan nationals to their home country since 2022 after discovering they were illegally present in Spain.
However, the number of expulsion orders issued against Moroccans during this period reached 5,859, with the majority yet to be carried out.
Other countries highlighted for poor cooperation on migrant returns alongside Morocco included Mali at 4%, Guinea at 5%, Ivory Coast at 5%, Bangladesh at 9%, and Algeria at 10%.
The highest cooperation rates were from Gambia at 37%, Iraq at 14%, and Pakistan at 11%.
Overall in 2023, the 27 EU countries succeeded in returning only 23% of irregular migrants, according to Eurostat data.
Four in ten of those migrants left voluntarily, underscoring the challenges in carrying out forced deportations.
The European Commission report called on Morocco to take concrete steps to improve cooperation, such as allowing more flexibility in return procedures.
It noted that given the high numbers of Moroccans arriving irregularly, “Morocco must adopt concrete measures to improve cooperation.”
The EU’s struggles to return irregular migrants to their origin countries illustrates how migration policies reliant on deportation ultimately depend on the willingness of those countries to take their citizens back.
As the analysis center Instrategies stated, “A migration policy based on returns, like that of the EU, reduces its own autonomy because it depends on a third country.”
