Dutch Minister of Immigration meets with Minister of Interior for migration and asylum file

On Feb 23, 2023

Eric Van der Burg, the Dutch minister of immigration, arrived in Morocco yesterday to meet with Abdelouafi Laftit, the Moroccan minister of interior, to discuss the ongoing immigration and asylum issues between the two nations.

In comments quoted by the Dutch newspaper “De Telegraaf,” Van der Burg said that negotiations with Morocco on immigration and asylum issues are “very advanced,” adding that “We want to do something about unaccompanied Moroccan minors who come to Europe without the opportunity for asylum.”

The Dutch minister confirmed that he had “received a promise” from the Moroccan Interior Minister, Abdelouafi Laftit, to visit the Netherlands “soon” in order to expedite work on these files, particularly the return of immigrants and asylum seekers to Morocco.

Op veel terreinen zijn we de samenwerking met Marokko aan het versterken. Op het gebied van migratie bijvoorbeeld. Denk aan terugkeer, maar ook het bestrijden van mensensmokkel. Mijn ontmoeting vandaag in Marokko met minister Laftit is een belangrijke stap in onze sterke relatie. pic.twitter.com/gZGVig4gTc

— Eric van der Burg (@ericvanderburg) February 21, 2023

26 of the 125 Moroccans who sought asylum since July 2021 have been deported using a passport, a temporary Moroccan entry document that Morocco had long since suspended and which the Netherlands hopes to adopt. Of the 125 Moroccans who sought asylum, 83 returned voluntarily and 42 were deported forcibly since that time.

140 Moroccan asylum seekers are currently detained in immigration detention facilities and are awaiting deportation to Morocco after issuing documents accepting their return, according to data from the same source.

In the Netherlands, 700 Moroccans apply for asylum on average each year (720 applications in the previous year), but fewer than 3% of them are successful in getting residence permits in the nation of Europe.

After exhausting all options for obtaining asylum or residency in other European nations, hundreds of Moroccans are forced to leave the Netherlands because the Dutch authorities are unaware of the final destination of 70% of rejected Moroccan immigrants, 1,126 of whom left the country last year alone.

According to “Da Telegraaf,” those in charge of immigration and asylum are placing their bets on the resumption of cooperation with Morocco in this area, which will give them the opportunity to hold rejected asylum seekers in temporary residence centers for immigrants while they are being deported. Because these centers are aware of the overcrowding, the situation is difficult.

According to a communication to the Ministry of the Interior, Abdelouafi Laftit invoked royal instructions during yesterday’s negotiations for the return of all unaccompanied Moroccan minors whose identities have been fully established, in full respect for their rights, their higher interests, and the international commitments made by the two parties.

After a period of “diplomatic estrangement,” Moroccan-Dutch relations have since resumed their upward trajectory, particularly since May 2022, when the Kingdom of the Netherlands viewed Morocco’s 2007 proposal for Saharan autonomy as a serious and credible addition to the UN-sponsored political process for finding a resolution to the conflict.