EU welcomes Morocco’s decision to facilitate return of unaccompanied minors

The European Union (EU) has welcomed again Morocco’s decision to definitively settle the issue of unaccompanied minors in Europe.

“The EU welcomes Morocco’s decision to facilitate the return of unaccompanied and duly identified Moroccan minors,” a spokesperson of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy told MAP on Tuesday.

She underlined that “for years, the EU and Morocco have maintained an excellent cooperation on migration, leading to very good results.” The spokesperson expressed confidence that “this fruitful collaboration can be preserved.”

“Morocco is an important partner for the EU and one of our closest neighbors”, she said, noting that Brussels will continue its “close cooperation with Rabat to meet our common challenges and promote our bilateral partnership, in our mutual interest”.

Last week, the Moroccan Ministries of the Interior and Foreign Affairs announced in a statement that King Mohammed VI reiterated his instructions to the two departments to definitively settle the issue of unaccompanied Moroccan minors in illegal situation in some European countries.

Shortly after the announcement, European Commissioner for Neighborhood and Enlargement Oliver Varhelyi had welcomed the decision as “important”.

“I welcome this important announcement from Morocco…We will continue our close cooperation with Morocco to address migration challenges and promote our win-win bilateral partnership,” the European Commissioner had twitted.