The Moroccan and Dutch governments signed two Memorandums of Understanding on Wednesday in Rabat to strengthen their bilateral collaboration on the creation of public infrastructure initiatives and renewable energy projects.

The two memorandums which were signed outside the round table “Morocco-Netherlands: Fostering the energy transition for a sustainable future” closing session in the presence of Moroccan Prime Minister Aziz Akhannouch, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, and a number of Moroccan and Dutch officials and businessmen, are meant to strengthen cooperation in areas related to sustainable development, public infrastructure, and the energy transition.

To this purpose, Rutte, Joost Oothuizen, Chairman and CEO of “Invest International,” the Minister of Economy and Finance, Nadia Fettah, and others signed a first memorandum on the development and funding of public infrastructure projects in Morocco.

This MoU aims to advance collaboration in areas that are important to both Morocco and Invest International, particularly in the fields of agriculture, water and infrastructure, renewable energy, sustainable industry, and health.

The second pact, which was signed by Leila Benali, Minister of Energy Transition and Sustainable Development, and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, aims to enhance collaboration in the area of innovative fuels and renewable energy sources.

The agreement will enable the matching of supply and demand in terms of investment and trade between producers of new renewable fuels and purchasers, as well as give mutual support for existing and future international initiatives and alliances connected to renewable energy and new fuels.

The memorandum also aims to encourage research, capacity building, innovation, and academic exchanges while promoting new clean energy sources, particularly offshore wind generation and novel applications for renewable energy sources like saltwater desalination.

Benali praised the strategic energy collaboration between the two nations in a statement to the media, noting that it has been further strengthened by the signing of a memorandum of understanding on energy transition, new energies, and energy efficiency.

She emphasized the Moroccan and Dutch infrastructures in this area and said that this conference is a great chance to reiterate the value of the sharing of knowledge between Morocco and the Netherlands and the exchange of investments in support of economic development.

In addition, she emphasized the significance of regional and global integration in energy markets, including upcoming energy markets, and welcomed the successful visit of the high-level Dutch delegation from the public and commercial sectors.

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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.

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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.

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Tuesday, March 23th, the Dutch government released an official statement condemning the recent events in the Moroccan consulates in Den Bosch and Utrecht, where, in a cowardly act, the persons in question stormed the two representations and desecrated the Moroccan flag and all symbols standing for the Moroccan nation.

The Netherlands promised to take all security and legal measures against the perpetrators of these acts, while the Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs, Stef Blok, considered these actions “unacceptable”.

In the same context, the minister admitted that “during recent years, demonstrations were held on several occasions near Moroccan consulates and near the Moroccan embassy.” For their part, the Moroccan authorities protested, considering the storming operation a violation of the Vienna Convention on the sanctity of diplomatic headquarters and the duty of the host country to protect them.

On Monday, individuals stormed the Consulate General of the Kingdom of Morocco in Den Bosch, and desecrated the national flag and the symbols of the nation; a similar incident also occurred last January at the Moroccan Consulate in Utrecht.

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