The International Organization for Migration – IOM indicates that Morocco is the 4th country in Africa, benefiting the most, from the program ‘MIDA – Migration for Development in Africa’.
Indeed, the IOM said in the voice of one of its senior executives that Morocco has experienced the largest benefits from the MIDA program, which aims to mobilize the skills of the diaspora abroad ( MRE in the case of the Kingdom) for temporary return, virtual or definitive in their countries of origin, in order to contribute to their development.
This class of members of the diaspora is called, ‘the repats’. This term was coined to denote the reverse migration. ‘Répat’ is the diminutive of the word ‘repatriate’ is opposed to ‘expat’ – emigrate.
In this sense, quoted by the French site, Cheek Magazine, Tauhid Pasha, migration specialist, based at IOM office in Geneva, said that during the period between 2008 and 2015, IOM has assisted placement in Morocco, of 290 Moroccan senior managers ‘repats’.
In view of these, the kingdom places 4th in Africa, after Nigeria (356), Ghana (353) and Angola (340) and Sudan (123).
MIDA
IOM launched the MIDA program in 2001 in Libreville, Gabon. This program aims to strengthen African development capabilities, usually suffering from brain drain by mobilizing in the opposite direction, a part of their skills living abroad.
Returns as recommended by the IOM can be done in three ways:
1) Provisional returns: MRE repats can return to Morocco, for example, for a limited period, so as not to affect their living environment in their host countries, and can work in the kingdom, in projects determined in time (training, project management …).
2) Definitive Returns: Often associated with start-ups or recruitment for very rewarding and high- responsibility opportunities.
3) Virtual Returns: The Repats do not return to Morocco physically but virtually by working via the Internet.
The sectors that benefit most from the actions of repats via the MIDA program are education, social affairs, health – medicine, management and administration, legal, physical and mathematical sciences and engineering.
