Morocco highlighted, Tuesday in Geneva, its executive program which aims to implement practical measures to improve the conditions of Moroccan expatriates, protect their rights and improve their contribution to the socio-economic development of the country.
The Minister of Economic Inclusion, Small Business, Employment, and Skills, Younes Sekkouri, who intervened at the 36th session of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families (CMW), devoted to the review of the second periodic report on the implementation of the International Convention on the subject, stated that the Kingdom’s process is part of His Majesty King Mohammed VI’s special attention to Moroccan expatriates, adding that this process aims to strengthen Moroccan expatriates’ ties with their country and enhance their participation in the development process.
While presenting the Kingdom’s record in managing the migration issue since 2013, the minister stressed that Moroccan workers living abroad and their families are a national priority in terms of monitoring and support from relevant institutions.
According to the Moroccan official, Morocco has implemented an integrated strategy to develop and improve its consular services abroad, notably by digitizing several services, with the aim of protecting the rights of Moroccan expatriates and optimizing the efficiency of these services.
The Moroccan minister added that this strategy allowed the support of vulnerable categories among Moroccan migrants, such as prisoners and the elderly, as well as intervention in times of crisis, citing the return of 77,000 Moroccan citizens living abroad to Morocco and the repatriation of over 18,235 people.
In this regard, Sekkouri stated that the competent public authorities are responsible for ensuring the control of agencies operating in Morocco in the field of international mediation of employment and improving their governance to protect the rights of workers abroad against any violation or exploitation, either by putting these organizations under the authority of labor inspectors in conformity with the Labor Law and the International Labour Office Convention No. 181 on private employment agencies, or by strengthening bilateral collaboration, particularly with nations that import workers.
In this context, the Kingdom also implemented standardized labor contracts within the framework of bilateral cooperation with several countries, which determine the obligations and duties of the contracting parties, such as wages, health coverage, and the right to family reunification.