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.”
