From left to right: State Secretary for Asylum and Migration Nicole de Moor, Minister of the Interior Annelies Verlinden, Prime Minister Alexander De Croo, Foreign Minister Hadja Lahbib, Justice Minister Paul Van Tigchelt and Ambassador Veronique Petit in Rabat. — © EPA-EFE
State Secretary for Asylum and Migration Nicole de Moor (CD&V) has received a “strong commitment” from the Moroccan government for more cooperation to return illegal Moroccans to our country. She said this after a meeting in Rabat. “Morocco supports the principle of taking back identified compatriots,” De Moor said.
Monday April 15, 2024 at 5:49 PM
A significant part of the federal government – in addition to De Moor, also Prime Minister Alexander De Croo and ministers Paul Van Tigchelt, Annelies Verlinden and Hadja Lahbib – will be in Rabat on Monday and Tuesday for talks with their Moroccan colleagues.
For Belgium, return policy is particularly central. The cooperation of the Moroccan government is necessary to identify and return illegal Moroccans from our country, but that cooperation has been at a low level in recent years after the fuss about the Marrakesh Pact and the corona pandemic. Only since last autumn has Morocco been cooperating a little better, although this is still relative with around forty returnees in three months.
“Strong guarantee”
According to De Moor, the Moroccan government committed on Monday that anyone identified as Moroccan and who is in the country without residence papers can in principle be taken back. No concrete figures have been agreed, but the State Secretary does speak of a “very clear commitment” and a “strong guarantee” that there will be better cooperation in the future.
Such a commitment can simplify and therefore speed up the return procedure, but identification is not easy. Criminals in illegal residence usually do not have residence documents and until recently the Immigration Office did not have the authority to search smartphones, for example, for photos of identity documents. This has changed since the beginning of this month: at the initiative of De Moor and Minister of Justice Van Tigchelt, five officials from the Immigration Department have been appointed officers of the judicial police, which means that they can read the devices, although only if there is criminal offenses are involved.
The Belgian and Moroccan governments signed two declarations of intent on Monday afternoon after the meeting in Rabat, one on justice and another on green energy. These statements are not very concrete, but according to De Croo the visit does lay the foundation for the further strengthening of mutual relationships.
