‘Model of North-South Cooperation’: Spanish Top Official Hails Migration Management with Morocco

On Jun 3, 2023

Madrid – Isabel Castro Fernández, Spain’s State Secretary for Migration, referred to Morocco’s management of migration issues as a “model of North-South cooperation,” both in the context of combating human trafficking networks and cyclical migration.

“The Spain-Morocco permanent group on migration […] is an institutional framework that […] has formed the permanent basis of an exceptional partnership on migration between the two countries,” Castro Fernández told MAP.

The statement is “supported by concrete actions that make it [the Morocco-Spain partnership] today a model of North-South cooperation,” she added on the sidelines of the Group’s 21st meeting, which took place on Friday in Madrid.

The Spanish official expressed her desire to see this “successful” experience “extended to other countries,” saying Rabat and Madrid “are committed to continuing this experience with a global approach that reconciles multiple dimensions and contributes to jointly addressing and managing migratory flows from a human and security perspective.”

Castro Fernández stated that both parties are committed to “increasing circular migration projects, strengthening cooperation in surveillance, expanding integration policies, and fighting racism and xenophobia.” He also expressed his gratitude for this group’s “success.”