Illegal Migration: Spain Pleads for Increasing EU’s Support to Morocco

The European Union can solve the problem of migration only in collaboration with Morocco, a country to which the EU grants a tiny part of the aid earmarked for the fight against illegal migration.

The statement was made by Spanish Foreign Minister Josep Borrell in a hearing before the Joint Committee of the Congress of Deputies and of the Senate on European Affairs earlier this week.

Borrell’s plea to “give justice” to Morocco for its efforts in managing the issue of migration was relayed this Friday by several Moroccan media outlets, which noted that the appeal concerns the aid granted to countries that support Europe in the management of migration issues.

However, Morocco, which is one of the main EU partners in this field, does not benefit from the same aid granted to other countries, the Spanish official said.

The Spanish Foreign Minister, who deemed that the EU treats the North African Kingdom unfairly, drew a comparison between Morocco and Turkey. While Ankara receives €6 billion from the EU in the context of the management of the migration issue, Morocco barely gets €50 million, he noted.

According to the local media, the Spanish official has however announced that his country had agreed with the EU to grant an additional €100 million to Morocco, a country that Spain considers as its main partner on this issue.

The Spanish official called on Europe to react before the situation gets out of control as migratory pressure is set to increase and to make of the migration issue an opportunity and not a problem.

“Immigration is a challenge but also an opportunity. This is a European problem that we will not be able to solve if we do not count on Morocco’s help,” he noted.