The Élysée did not mention this very important subject in its presentation of the issues of Macron’s state visit to Rabat. But the question will certainly be on the menu of discussions between the French president and the Moroccan authorities. “The habit is to present to the authorities in Rabat lists with several hundred names of Moroccan nationals undesirable in France. After several days, the answer came back to us, with a green light on a few files. For a few weeks, the relationship is fluid and then tightens depending on the vagaries of the bilateral relationship,” confides a former member of the Darmanin teams to L’Opinion.
The Minister of the Interior, Bruno Retailleau, who is part of the delegation accompanying the French president to Rabat, has already marked out the terrain with his Moroccan counterpart. “A committee dedicated to mobility and migration issues […] was held at an operational level between the two Ministries of the Interior”, informs the Élysée, adding that following the spirit of the “global agenda”, it is appropriate to “discuss the fight against irregular immigration and cooperation in this area, including readmission and prevention of departures.”
Read: Morocco-France: the challenges of Emmanuel Macron’s visit to Rabat
The migration issue deserves sustained attention, as the figures are alarming. According to data from the French Interior Ministry, 10,714 Moroccans were turned back at the border in 2022, becoming the first nationality to be refused access to French territory. Also, 945 nationals of the kingdom were subject to an expulsion order. What about the Moroccans under OQTF who were unable to return to Morocco because of Morocco’s refusal? The execution rate of these forced returns does not exceed 10%, we learn. A weak performance that Bruno Retailleau intends to improve.
Paris’ change of position last July on the Moroccan nature of the Sahara should help improve migratory cooperation between the two countries. However, Rabat believes that the return of its nationals who have committed offenses or crimes in France would only increase crime in the kingdom, stressing that the “fault” lies above all with the French system if an MRE who spent years in France and is finally forced to return home.
Morocco
