Morocco promises to step up cooperation in the fight against illegal immigration

Nicole De Moor was part of a Federal Government delegation visiting Rabat for talks with the Moroccan authorities. The fight against illegal immigration and the repatriation of illegal immigrants is an issue that the Belgian Government sees as a priority in its bilateral talks with Moroccan officials. Rabat's cooperation is essential to being able to identify Moroccan nationals and return them to their country of origin.

The political crisis surrounding the UN Pact on Migration (also known as the Marrakech Pact) and the COVID-19 crisis weighed heavily on bilateral cooperation between Belgium and Morocco regarding repatriations. However, since last autumn, the situation has improved with around 40 repatriations having taken place.

Ms de Moor says that on Monday the Moroccan government undertook to ensure that anyone found in Belgium that is identified as a Moroccan national and doesn’t have a residence permit will be able to be returned to Morocco. Although no firm figures were agreed, Secretary of State De Moor says that there was a "very clear commitment" and a "strong guarantee" of better cooperation in the future.

Respecting this commitment should simplify and speed up the procedures for repatriation. However, identifying people remains a complex task as very often, those concerned have no identity papers. Since the beginning of the month, a new law granted five officers from the Aliens Office the right to search data contained on smartphones for information that could confirm an illegal alien’s identity.