A Moroccan fix to Europe's migrant crisis
After being startled by the hundreds of migrants perishing on flimsy boats in the Mediterranean, Europe has begun a necessary rethink of how it treats those desperately trying to reach its borders. It need not look too far for a new model, one that can replace the current approach, dubbed 鈥淔ortress Europe.鈥澛�
Two years ago, Morocco began a shift in its own view of foreign migrants, most of whom have used the North African nation merely as a transit point to Europe. Instead of fearing those fleeing countries in sub-Saharan Africa or elsewhere, Morocco decided to instead lay down a well-regulated welcome mat for many of them.
Its monarch, King Mohammed VI, asked for a 鈥渘ew vision鈥� on migration that would be more inclusive. Morocco had come under strong criticism for its harsh treatment of migrants trying to make the dangerous crossing into Spain. The European Union had also asked Morocco to serve as a 鈥渂uffer state,鈥� similar to other countries around Europe, in an attempt by the EU to outsource the arrest, detention, and rejection of migrants.
Under its new approach, Morocco has 鈥渞egularized鈥� nearly 20,000 migrants, granting them residency and setting up programs to integrate them into society and teach them how to run a small business. Even though it is a poor country with high unemployment, 鈥淢oroccan society is ... becoming aware that there are foreign migrants, that they need to work, that they need to live with dignity, that they need the same rights to work, to housing, to health care as Moroccans,鈥� one official told The Associated Press.聽
Morocco鈥檚 lesson for Europe is to provide more legal channels for migration in a global age of high mobility. Tougher border controls are only failing, driving more migrants to take risky journeys with smugglers. Many in Europe now call for a 鈥渞egulated openness,鈥� which would provide incentives for would-be migrants to wait in line in their home countries. Migration, in other words, can鈥檛 be stopped but must instead be diverted into authorized opportunities.
The vast majority of those fleeing their countries are not criminals. 鈥淥ne needs to recognize the agency and dignity of those migrants and refugees,鈥� says Fran莽ois Cr茅peau, the United Nations special rapporteur on human rights. 鈥淭hey face very difficult choices as well as exclusion and violence on a daily basis, and yet they endure, they persist.
鈥淢igration is most often a survival mechanism undertaken out of love. And rather than trying everything we can to prevent them from coming, welcoming them in a regulated way would be a much more productive response.鈥�
Morocco鈥檚 model is still a work in progress. But as the EU now tries to fix its broken system, it knows where to look.
