Morocco’s Distinguished Migration Efforts at the Center of an Interactive Meeting at the House of Councilors

The House of Councilors organized, on Monday, an interactive preparatory meeting for the first International Migration Review Forum, to be held from May 17 to 20 in New York, focusing on the leading role Morocco plays in the field. of migration in its various dimensions and extensions.

This meeting, which was attended by representatives of the various departments concerned, also takes place in view of the planned participation in the work of the multilateral hearing session on migration, which will be organized by the President of the United Nations General Assembly. May 16, on the eve of the International Migration Review Forum.

During this meeting, the participants also focused on the work accomplished with regard to the operationalization of the National Immigration Strategy, the progress made in the implementation of the 23 objectives of the Charter, the constraints and the weak points which require more efforts to overcome them and the highlighting of opportunities and challenges related to emerging issues and new challenges of migration, against the backdrop of the repercussions of the pandemic and the effects of climate change, requiring the mobilization of partnerships and a international cooperation to overcome them.

In an opening address, the Speaker of the House of Councillors, Naama Mayara, stressed that this meeting is guided by the Royal Vision expressed by HM King Mohammed VI in his message to the Intergovernmental Conference on Migration, held in 2018. in Marrakech for the ratification of the Global Compact for safe, orderly and regular migration.

He recalled the initiatives of the legislator on migration during the legislative years 2016-2017 and 2020-2021, leading to the adoption of bill 01-19 ratifying the agreement signed on December 10, 2018 between the Moroccan government and the African Union which led to the creation of the African Observatory on Migration in Rabat, as well as the adoption of Bill 01-16 approving Convention No. 143 on migration in abusive conditions and the promotion of equality opportunities and treatment of migrant workers, in addition to the adoption of Bill 27-14 on the fight against human trafficking.

Despite the measures taken by the Kingdom to guarantee safe, orderly and regular migration “we are always called, each in his place, to make greater efforts, especially since the number of migrants continues to increase due to climate change, conflicts and wars, not to mention the negative impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on millions of people in the world in general and on the African continent in particular”, insisted Mr. Mayara in his speech, read on his behalf by the 1st Vice-President of the House of Councillors, Mohamed Hanine.

In their speeches, the representatives of the ministerial departments stressed that migration issues constitute a major challenge in their management, in an international context marked by economic and political crises, and another regional context characterized by instability, which are so many factors that push many individuals in search of security and a decent life to migrate to safe countries, whether on a regular or irregular basis.

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They noted, in this regard, that adaptation to rapid changes in migration has contributed to the establishment of a new national policy on immigration and asylum, stressing that this is the expression of a modern societal project that brings together profound political and economic reforms in the Kingdom, and promotes the democratic path based on the universal values ​​of human rights.

Furthermore, they also mentioned the measures taken to facilitate the integration of migrants and refugees into society, by allowing them access to all public services (education, health, social housing, social and humanitarian aid, legal protection , employment, etc.), in coordination with government institutions and departments and in partnership with civil society.

The participants were unanimous in emphasizing that the National Immigration and Asylum Strategy enjoys remarkable recognition from many countries inside and outside the African continent, which continue to express their support and their full involvement in the dynamic launched by Morocco, also evoking the praise of most UN organizations and bodies for the royal initiative aimed at reforming the migration system.

Regarding education and teaching, participants highlighted efforts to support and facilitate the integration of migrants and refugees into the education system, to improve their knowledge and understanding of languages ​​and culture Moroccans, as well as to reinforce the values ​​of tolerance, openness, diversity and non-discrimination within the Moroccan school.

They also commended the efforts made to combat school dropout rates, encourage the schooling of migrant and refugee pupils and widen access for young migrants to new generation second-chance centers which offer educational qualifications, vocational training and support and guidance for professional integration.

On the other hand, the speakers pointed to the constraints that hinder the study path of migrants, in particular the difficulties of communication with the target groups without intermediaries or civil society associations that play an active role in this field. , situations of vulnerability exacerbated by the consequences of the pandemic and the weakness of the mechanisms for welcoming and attracting migrant and refugee children to schools due to ignorance of the organizational aspects that facilitate the reception, registration and further studies for this category.

With regard to the integration of migrants into the Moroccan economic fabric, the participants indicated that a guide on the employment of foreign employees has been made available to employers, specifying that this guide is based on a system of information that provides a set of data on the procedure and everything related to the filing of applications for employment contracts, the average time for responding to these applications does not exceed 10 days at the latest.

With regard to the implementation of the national immigration strategy, in its component linked to the professional integration of beneficiaries of the exceptional regularization process, the participants indicated that several measures have been taken, in particular the opening of the service offer of the National Agency for the Promotion of Employment and Skills (ANAPEC) for the benefit of migrants at the level of 11 local agencies, specifying that 1,261 employment contracts for foreign employees have been registered until the end of September 2021, while the number of foreign job seekers registered with ANAPEC amounts to more than 4,000.

Turning to the legal aspect, the participants recalled that the Kingdom submitted the first report on the implementation of the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families in 2013, noting that the ministerial delegation for human rights is continuing the consultation process for the preparation of the second periodic report on the implementation of this convention with a view to submitting it to the competent UN committee in October 2022 while supporting the implementation implementation of recommendations issued by international human rights mechanisms, in particular the Committee on Migrant Workers, in coordination with all parties for institutional coordination.

The ministerial delegation, in its capacity as the administration responsible for implementing the national action plan in the field of democracy and human rights, has drawn up an updated text of this plan, translating the national strategic thinking into the field of migration policy, in the form of practical measures that combine legislative and institutional aspects, awareness-raising, communication and capacity building.

With MAP