The European Commission has officially registered Morocco on its list of ” safe country », Alongside India, Egypt or Kosovo. Recognition which marks not only a paradigm shift in the processing of asylum requests within the Union, but also a strong signal sent in Morocco, which has become in recent years a central player in Euro-African migratory cooperation.
Until now, migration flow management has been based on disparate national devices. Some member states established their own list of countries considered “ safe “, Creating disparities in the treatment of asylum seekers according to the country in which they submitted their file. From now on, with this initiative carried by Brussels, a common list stands out as a legal base for all twenty-seven. Objective displayed: accelerate the examination of the files of nationals of these countries, while facilitating their return if their request is deemed unfounded.
In fact, the inclusion of Morocco in this list means that the requests for asylum filed by its nationals will be presumed unfounded, unless otherwise proven. The European Commission justifies this measure indicating that Moroccan citizens, like those of other countries on the list, “ generally are not the subject of systematic persecution »In« do not run serious risks in the event of return ». A simplified and shortened procedure will therefore apply to them, under this new classification.
If this announcement can be perceived, in certain circles, such as a way of restricting access to the right of asylum for certain nationalities, it also constitutes, for the countries concerned, a form of recognition of their political and institutional stability. In the case of Morocco, this decision indirectly validates the efforts made by Rabat for a decade in matters of migratory governance.
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The kingdom has indeed multiplied reforms to position itself as a regional pole of human management and responsible for migration. As early as 2013, under the leadership of King Mohammed VI, Morocco adopted a national strategy of immigration and asylum (SNIA), hailed by numerous international observers for its inclusive dimension and its migrant integration aspects on the national territory. This policy is translated concretely into the regularization of tens of thousands of sub -Saharan migrants, the opening of social and educational services to these populations, as well as in proactive cooperation with European agencies such as Frontex or Europol.
In a geopolitical context marked by an increasing migratory pressure on Europe, Rabat is today an essential partner in the Euro-Mediterranean strategy. Its ability to control its borders, while maintaining a framework that respects human rights, earned it to be courted by European capitals as well as by community institutions.
This recognition is also part of a broader dynamic, where Morocco plays a strategic bridge role between Africa and Europe, both in terms of security, economic and diplomatic. Brussels’ recent decision thus reinforces a relationship based on mutual trust and the convergence of interests.
Debates still lively within the Union
However, this new stage towards a more unified European migration policy is not unanimous. If countries like Italy – which welcomed the announcement as a political “victory” – welcomes it, other voices rise to alerting the risks of expeditious procedure, potentially at the expense of the fundamental rights of asylum seekers. The European Parliament and Member States will still have to agree on the legal and practical contours of this list.
The proposal promises to be all the more delicate as some states still refuse to grant the status of “safe countries” to sensitive partners, like Turkey, whose mention had made a similar initiative in 2015. This time again, the negotiations promise to be tight.
For Morocco, this decision could also open up new perspectives in terms of technical and financial cooperation with the Union. By relying on his new recognition, Rabat could demand increased support in the management of its borders, in the development of integration initiatives for migrants, but also in the fight against human trafficking networks.
In filigree, the designation of Morocco as “country of safe origin” by the European Commission reflects a turning point in the political reading of migration. Far from being perceived as a country issuing migratory flows, the kingdom is increasingly asserting itself as a pivot state in the regulation of human mobility on the scale of the Mediterranean and the African continent.
