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Rabat – Morocco is implementing a program to serve members of the Moroccan diaspora, a representative of the Department of Migrants and of the Ministry of Moroccans Residing Abroad said on Wednesday.
The announcement came during the inauguration ceremony of the Regional Program for Migration Initiatives (PRIM).
The French Development Agency in Morocco (AFD) is financing PRIM with a budget of €9 million.
The program targets Moroccans residing abroad as well as migrants.
It seeks to accompany, in the Souss-Massa and Oriental regions, the regionalization of migration policy in Morocco.
There were multiple reasons behind the choice of the two regions.
Ambassador of France in Morocco Helene Le Gal, who participated in the event, said that “Sous-Massa is the region of origin of a large part of Moroccans of France who left in the 50s to 70s.
“It has established strong cultural ties and ties of solidarity with the French regions […] Sous-Massa and the Oriental are two regions of high mobility for reception, transit and return of Moroccans residing abroad and also of migrants from Sub-Saharan Africa,” the diplomat said.
Expertise France is implementing the project in collaboration with Morocco’s government. The minister delegate to the minister of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccans Residing Abroad also participated in the event.
The program is based on two strategies: The National Strategy of Moroccans Residing Abroad and the National Strategy of Migrants and Refugees.
The program seeks to support and fund projects related to migration.
Three components characterize PRIM, according to Expertise France.
The first component seeks to “set up a sustainable financing mechanism in both regions in order to finance economic, inclusive or social projects in the field of migration.”
The second component has the goal to improve access to existing services for regularized migrants and Moroccans residing abroad “by training municipal employees and identifying community mediators in associations.”
The third component seeks to make it easier specifically for women migrants and Moroccan women living abroad to access existing services.
The number of Moroccans living abroad is estimated at five million. Morocco’s government has long expressed satisfaction with the contribution of the Moroccan diaspora to the country’s economy.
Remittances from the Moroccan diaspora reached $7.54 billion in 2020.
