Morocco calls for paradigm shift in how migration is tackled in Mediterranean

Morocco’s foreign minister highlighted at an international conference in Rome the King’s vision in favor of a solidarity-approach towards migration that breaks away with the all-security treatment of the issue.

Speaking at the International Conference on Development and Migration, chaired by the Italian Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, foreign minister Nasser Bourita recalled Morocco’s role under the leadership of King Mohammed VI in campaigning for an orderly approach that views migration as a potential instead of a risk.

With a proven experience in managing migratory flows for over two decades, Morocco developed good practices in migrant integration, notably the two regularization operations, the introduction of responsible and humane border management, and the health protection of migrants during the COVID19 pandemic, he said.

Building on a human approach domestically, Morocco’s King in his capacity as African Union migration leader submitted the African Agenda which treats migration as a development factor and a pillar of south-south cooperation as well as a lever of solidarity, Bourita said.

During the conference, Bourita deconstructed a number of myths surrounding the issue of migration citing for example that 80% of Africa migration is intra-continental.

He also recalled the relevance of the Marrakech Compact on migration under the auspices of the UN in 2019, noting that the Rome process should be part of that momentum, while calling for rethinking the reasons why previous processes on migration have failed.

In this respect, he highlighted the need to strike a balance between the different dimensions of migration, regular and irregular, through enshrining a positive narrative and the promotion of channels for legal migration.