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King Mohammed VI sent a message to the Intergovernmental Conference on the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration, which opened Monday in Marrakech. His speech was delivered by Moroccan Prime Minister Saadeddine El Othamni.
Welcoming the participants to the Moroccan soil, King Mohammed VI started his speech by highlighting the fact that the «international community has chosen to convene this global event in the Kingdom».
He recalled that the event is taking place as the world is commemorating that the «70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights», stressing that «in 2018, the world community is definitely coming to terms with the global nature of migration, over and beyond considerations relating to borders, divides and continents».
«The Kingdom of Morocco’s interest in migration is neither recent nor incidental. Quite the contrary. It reflects a longstanding, voluntary commitment expressed through a policy which is humane in its philosophy, global in its substance, pragmatic in its methodology and responsible in its approach.»
Migration and Africa
The King explained that Morocco is working on «anticipating the future to build orderly mobility». «Our approach consists in invariably seeking to strike a beneficial balance between realism and proactive action - between the legitimate interests of States and respect for the human rights of migrants, he indicated.
The sovereign also pointed out that this approach was adopted by the African Union Conference in January 2018.
«Migration is not a security issue - nor should it become one. A repressive migration policy will not be a deterrent. Through some perverse effect, repression deflects migratory dynamics, but does not stop them.»
For King Mohammed VI the Global Compact is just a «promise which history will judge». «The challenge for this conference is to show that the international community has opted for responsible solidarity», he argued, insisting that achieving this objective must be applied and respected by each member state.
«The Marrakech Conference is, first and foremost, a call to action. And Africa has already responded to this call! It does not intend to be on the sidelines», he added.
King Mohammed finally recalled that the African Observatory for Migration and Development, which will have its headquarters in Morocco, «is explicitly mentioned in the Compact». «My hope is to see the work of this Observatory effectively enhanced through networking with similar institutions in other regions», he concluded.
