Morocco a Migration “Stability Factor”, UN Expert Says

Morocco is fully assuming its role and responsibilities in the fight against irregular migration, UN human rights expert Louis-Marie Bouaka said.

The former Regional Representative of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in Central Africa told the Maghreb Arab Press Agency (MAP) that “in monitoring migration flows, Moroccan security services show real effectiveness on the ground, based on a system of continuous vigilance that allows for anticipation and rapid response with few equivalents in the region — an institutional maturity built on more than a decade of experience and successive adjustments”.

Bouaka, a member of the scientific council at the International Institute for Geopolitical Studies, based in Montpellier, explained that migration flows, when not properly anticipated, become “a factor of tension and regional instability”, while well-managed flows, as with Morocco’s approach, can instead become “a factor of stability and cooperation”.

He noted that no country, however well-organized, can bear this responsibility alone in the long term, stressing that “managing migration flows is inherently a shared responsibility”.

The UN expert also said that ongoing, candid dialogue between all parties involved — countries of origin, transit and destination, whether in Europe or Africa — remains the only way to guarantee sustainable resilience against future migration challenges.

Bouaka recalled that Morocco, since launching its new migration policy in 2013, has undergone a strategic shift: moving from a country historically seen as merely a transit point toward Europe, to a country of reception that regularizes migrants’ status, through several campaigns to legalize the status of sub-Saharan African migrants.

He said this evolution “reflects an early awareness that managing migration flows can no longer be approached from a security angle alone, but must also integrate the human dimension and regional cooperation”.

• Source: MAP