Morocco is at the same time a country of emigration, with 5 million Moroccans residing abroad (MRA) – including a quarter in France –, transit and immigration, with some 50,000 regularised migrants and some 4,800 refugees registered by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (HCR) in Morocco in 2017.
Launched in 2013 and led by the Ministry Delegate to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccans Residing Abroad, responsible for Moroccans residing abroad, Morocco’s migration policy is often described as pioneering, humanistic and responsible. It comprises:
1) The National Strategy for Immigration and Asylum (NSIA), dedicated to the reception and integration of foreigners on Moroccan territory;
2) The National Strategy for Moroccans Residing Abroad (NSMRA), which aims to provide social, cultural, educational and legal support to MRA and mobilise the investments and expertise of MRA to contribute to Morocco’s development.
The advanced regionalisation policy provides the opportunity to harmonise the migration policy and sectoral policies for economic and human development at regional level: this is the objective of this project to regionalise the migration policy in Morocco.
A project based on three components
To contribute to the overall objective of supporting the regionalisation of Morocco’s migration policy in the Souss-Massa and Oriental regions (see opposite), the regional programme for migration initiatives is based on three areas:
1) Financing regional “migration and development” projects
This component aims to set up a sustainable financing mechanism in both regions in order to finance economic, inclusive or social projects in the field of migration. It involves implementing the migration and development action plans in the regions by financing concrete initiatives.
2) Social and administrative assistance to Moroccans residing abroad (MRA) and immigrants
This component aims to improve access to services for MRA and regularised migrants by training municipal employees and identifying community mediators in associations, in order to better receive and refer this public to existing basic services in the region.
3) Improving gender equality in access to services
This component aims to improve access to existing services for women MRA and women migrants, by taking greater account of their specific needs and involving social organisations which work with administrations.
Franco-Moroccan cooperation
The Regional Programme for Migration Initiatives is funded by Agence Française de Développement (AFD) and implemented by Expertise France, in close cooperation with the Moroccan authorities, including the Ministry Delegate to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccans Residing Abroad, responsible for Moroccans residing abroad. In this respect, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the three parties on 12 December 2019 to provide a framework for the implementation of the project.
At local level, Expertise France is working together with the Oriental Regional Council and Souss-Massa Regional Council. The NGO Migrations et Développement (M&D), a longstanding stakeholder in migration in Souss-Massa, is also a key partner of the project and will be working on several activities identified in this region.
