The Institute of African Studies in Rabat organizes a two day conference on April 27-28 in Rabat, on "African migrants, a clue of South-South cooperation". At stake, the World Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD), which will take place from 28 to 30 June 2017 in Germany.
At the opening of the conference, Mr. Ahmed Siraj, from the CCME, gave a historical overview of sub-saharian immigration in Morocco, the Kingdom's relationship with African countries and its commitment to back the African post independence causes.
While talking about the African immigration to Morocco, Mr Siraj reminded of Morocco's sociological changes : initially considered as a country of emigration, then transit, and finally a hosting country, the Kingdom realized a National strategy for migration and asylum to develop the African continent.
Fighting for the rights of the African migration is as important as defending the moroccan migration said Mr Siraj. He added that the CCME has published the first study on African illelal migrants in Morocco (2013) and indicated that the Council is regularly in contact with representatives of African migrants in Morocco to inquire about their living conditions and try to improve them. He also reminded the several partnerships signed with African countries such as the Ivory Coast.
For his part, the representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in migration affairs, explained the Moroccan migration policies, those that regularize illegal migrants in Morocco, show Morocco's solidarity with the countries of the continent and encourages the involvement of civil society to make South-South cooperation a lever for the sustainable and effective development of Africa.
Mr Abdelfatah Zine, coordinator of the Euro-Mediterranean Network for Migration and Development, said, this meeting is the result of a study carried out last year by African researchers on migration in Africa, which led to the conclusion that Migration between the countries of Africa is much more important than the one of the North. He however deplored that this migration is still not taken seriously enough in public policies.
This colloquium was co-organized in partnership with the Council of the Moroccan Community Abroad (CCME), the Institute of African Studies (IEA), the Mohammed V University, the Delegate Ministry to the Minister of Foreign Affairs , The National Council for Human Rights (CNDH) and the Euro-Mediterranean Network for Migration and Development.
CCME