Rabat – Morocco’s government is satisfied with its collaboration with Spain to control irregular migration. Challenges, however, still prevail.
Director of immigration and border surveillance at the Moroccan Ministry of the Interior, Khalid Zerouali, discussed Morocco’s immigration policy and the common challenges in a recent interview.
One of the key points the politician addressed was the funds Morocco has received from the EU to tackle migration.
For Morocco, the EU €140 fund does not meet the costs associated with Morocco’s ongoing efforts to address the complex issue.
The statement echoes similar remarks from the Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez, who urged the EU to increase the grant.
Spain has been an active voice for Morocco at the EU on the migration issue.
Morocco “must be endowed with sufficient resources to deal with illegal immigration,” said the prime minister in November of last year.
Last year, Morocco’s security services were able to dismantle 208 human trafficking networks. The North African country also aborted 73,973 irregular migration attempts as part of its efforts to combat the global crisis.
“In 2018, there was this pressure and we started today a cooperation with our partner, the European Union, that we consider very positive,” Zerouali said in his interview with AFP.
The official recalled the grants Morocco has received from the EU, including the € 140 million fund in 2019.
Zerouali argued that the funds are a good start, but warned that the North African country spends more than it receives.
He emphasized that the EU vowed to continue to support and ensure a mutual benefit partnership with Morocco.
Commenting on Morocco’s approach to tackling irregular migration, the official said that Morocco considers irregular migrants the victims of trafficking networks.
“Our security action is not against migrants because we believe they are victims,” argued.
The actions are mainly targeting networks that trafficking migrants. He described them as networks that exploit the “vulnerability of these migrants.”
“They exploit them and always ask for money from their families,” he said.
The official emphasized that Morocco has reinforced its system to combat trafficking networks following several years of pressure.
“Our evaluation is very positive since we were able to reduce arrivals on the Spanish coast by approximately 60%,” he said.
