First Independent Mena Newspaper
In their quest to reach the European Eldorado, migrants are increasingly shunning the Libyan routes for security reasons in favor of the closer and less risky Moroccan-Spanish land and sea borders. Deaths in sea embarkations, almost impenetrable six-meter high fence and heavily patrolled land borders on the Moroccan and Spanish sides seem not dissuading thousands […]
One year after it lifted visa requirements for Chinese nationals, Morocco is steadily tapping into the Chinese tourist market with arrivals by July 2017 rising to 50,000 compared to 10,000 in the whole year of 2015. Soon after the visa exemption decision was taken during King Mohammed VI’s visit to Beijing, the number of Chinese […]
Rape, torture and slave labor are among the horrendous daily realities for people stuck in Libya in their desperate attempt to escape war, persecution and poverty in African countries, and reach Europe. The dark picture was described in a new report compiled by Oxfam and Italian partners, MEDU and Borderline Sicilia, which called on Italy […]
Poland opens its doors to migrants from Europe, notably from Ukraine and Belarus, but not from North Africa and the Middle East, said Polish Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski. In an interview with Russian news agency Ria Novosti, the Polish Minister reiterated his administration’s stand against refugees, saying that Poland will never apply the relocation plan […]
Qatar, isolated by its neighbors for its alleged support of “terrorism” for over two months, announced Wednesday that it was granting visa-free entry, with immediate effect, to the nationals of eighty countries in order to stimulate tourism and air transport. “The visa exemption scheme will make Qatar the most open country in the region,” Hassan […]
Morocco bought €127 million worth of French arms in 2016, making it the second weapon market for France in Africa, said the French Defense Ministry. Morocco came second in terms of spending on French arms behind Egypt, which spent €1.3 billion in the same year, the Ministry said in a report. Since 2012, French arm […]
After launching the world largest solar complex, Morocco is busy working to construct the biggest desalination plant in the globe, a landmark project to cost €309 million. The plant, to be built by Spanish company Abengoa in the city of Agadir, will be able to provide 275,000 m3 of desalinated water per day. The facility’s […]
Thanks to its increasing diplomatic and economic clout, Morocco is best placed to serve as India’s bridge to French speaking Africa, Indian paper, the Business Standard, commented. Morocco, a North African nation almost touching Europe, has emerged as an “island of stability” in a volatile region, adds the paper quoting Morocco’s Ambassador to New Delhi […]
The Algeria-backed Polisario separatists have once again failed to practice their “political piracy” as they did in South Africa last May. Last week, it was in Latin America, precisely in Uruguay, that the Polisario attempted to incite a Uruguayan court to order the seizure of a 300-ton shipment of Moroccan phosphate. But, although Uruguay backs […]
Algeria, Africa’s largest country, shares borders with 6 countries, all of them are closed with the exception of its land frontiers with Tunisia. This closed-border attitude is reflective of a lack of a neighborhood policy in an increasingly integrated continent where collective efforts are the best means to countering trans-border challenges. With Morocco, the borders […]