MIGRASYL

News on migration and asylum from around the region - Nouvelles de la région sur les questions de migration et d'asile

Wednesday, April 09, 2014

[Morocco]: Jadiyya - Creation and Cooptation: The Story of Morocco’s Migration Reform



King Mohammed VI announced the need for reform in the area of migration and asylum law in September 2013. This has meant that a process of regularization for certain categories of migrant workers has begun, and the Moroccan Ministry of Foreign Affairs is integrating the Refugee Status Determination (RSD) process into its mandate. These are two steps in the right direction, and many within and outside of Morocco are cautiously optimistic that this may lead to a better social and political situation for the sub-Saharan community. The current reform process has been spearheaded from the top, but in reality, it is the product of the many years that a vast array of Moroccan and sub-Saharan associations have supported and fought for the political and social rights of the migrant community. Civil society in Morocco has been relentless in holding the authorities accountable for violence against the sub-Saharan community. However, the shift in policy in 2013 requires a more in-depth analysis of civil society and state relations, historical processes of political cooptation, discourses on human rights, and Morocco’s narrative of “exceptionalism.”