The Moroccan Diaspora hardly knows that there is a ministry for them; the reason is because a minister must have a portfolio and from what we see, the minister in charge of Moroccans living abroad either does not have a portfolio or does not fulfill her portfolio.
I had to visit this ministry's website to see whether it responds to the needs and concerns of this portion of Moroccans, after all they represent 10% of the total population and a much greater percentage of the Moroccan GDP.
The site is presented in Arabic and French only! As if the German and English speaking Moroccans are less likely to have interest in the politics that affect them directly, it may seem unimportant to some that this ministry did not have the courtesy to translate the contents of its website to two more languages but it shows that this ministry is working with the minimum required effort.
Just compare this website, which is subsidized by the government and is well financed, to many websites created and financed by persons or independent organizations made of Moroccans living abroad serving their country and their follow- country men free of charge and with as many as 4 languages to guarantee equal coverage to all Moroccans.
This discourteous attitude towards the Moroccan Diaspora is part of the government's plans. 10% of Morocco's population lives abroad, a big portion of the Moroccan foreign currency comes from their contribution to the economy and yet not one seat in the parliament! Marocposts poll indicates 56 % of visitors blame this minister for not being represented in the parliament.
After reading the statements on this ministry's website, I concluded that it is business as usual, the rhetoric is more than perfect but applying them is where our government is lacking a real and genuine determination to better the lives of its citizens who are considered in many studies to be the most loyal Diaspora in the world by organizations monitoring the migrants throughout the world. The love of this portion of Moroccans to their country should be matched with a constructive feedback from their government and by involving them in the political decision making.
Unfortunately a minister of Moroccans living abroad is their only hope to have their voice heard and in this case, their voice is silenced by the bureaucracy and the loopholes, put to keep them away from a real participation. This minister should care enough to travel and meet the people that she swore to serve because they have issues and these issues need immediate consideration adding to that she needs to refocus and reconstruct her work to fit their reality. As per the rest of the government there must be a reform of the political system in Morocco to accommodate them, the Moroccan Diaspora is too obvious to keep-on ignoring.
The Moroccan Diaspora will continue to boost the Moroccan economy and give it more vitality with unconditional financial support while the government sees this commitment as a one-way flow; but soon or later the government will regret such attitude because the billions of foreign currency that the Moroccans living abroad transfer to Moroccan banks are only one part of their contribution, they also contribute to the development of non- governmental organizations to help the unprivileged and the remote areas which alleviate the burden of directly investing in these areas from the government. They also contribute with other forms of patriotism which is worth more than any hard currency, their art, sports and philanthropy.
Things that the government in general and the minister of Moroccans living a broad ought to do to show good faith are simple and straight forward: To genuinely commit this ministry to serving the community To defend with the utmost strength the rights of Moroccans in their host countries To intervene directly or through the consular system in cases of extreme urgency pertaining to Moroccans living abroad To open a dialogue with the community in order to properly serve them To alleviate the bureaucracy and over taxation on property and customs To discus the representation in the parliament with the community To be fair and honest with them, because they deserve it.
Moroccans abroad in Figures
Population
France (1999) 1,024,766
Netherlands 422,000
Belgium (2000) 500,000
Germany(2000) 293,000
Spain 610,000 2007 (more than 300 000 are illegal)
Italy 319,537, (2003)
UK 74,000 (1999)
Denmark 17,000
US 85,000
Canada 70,000
Libya 120,000
Algeria 63,000
Tunisia 16,414
Saudi Arabia 11,973
UAE 8,359
Other Arab 12,216
Israel 270,188
Sub-Saharan Africa 5,355
Other countries 3,959
The Numbers are much higher(moste are old numbers),an the moste countries give only the number of moroccans without a citizenship
I had to visit this ministry's website to see whether it responds to the needs and concerns of this portion of Moroccans, after all they represent 10% of the total population and a much greater percentage of the Moroccan GDP.
The site is presented in Arabic and French only! As if the German and English speaking Moroccans are less likely to have interest in the politics that affect them directly, it may seem unimportant to some that this ministry did not have the courtesy to translate the contents of its website to two more languages but it shows that this ministry is working with the minimum required effort.
Just compare this website, which is subsidized by the government and is well financed, to many websites created and financed by persons or independent organizations made of Moroccans living abroad serving their country and their follow- country men free of charge and with as many as 4 languages to guarantee equal coverage to all Moroccans.
This discourteous attitude towards the Moroccan Diaspora is part of the government's plans. 10% of Morocco's population lives abroad, a big portion of the Moroccan foreign currency comes from their contribution to the economy and yet not one seat in the parliament! Marocposts poll indicates 56 % of visitors blame this minister for not being represented in the parliament.
After reading the statements on this ministry's website, I concluded that it is business as usual, the rhetoric is more than perfect but applying them is where our government is lacking a real and genuine determination to better the lives of its citizens who are considered in many studies to be the most loyal Diaspora in the world by organizations monitoring the migrants throughout the world. The love of this portion of Moroccans to their country should be matched with a constructive feedback from their government and by involving them in the political decision making.
Unfortunately a minister of Moroccans living abroad is their only hope to have their voice heard and in this case, their voice is silenced by the bureaucracy and the loopholes, put to keep them away from a real participation. This minister should care enough to travel and meet the people that she swore to serve because they have issues and these issues need immediate consideration adding to that she needs to refocus and reconstruct her work to fit their reality. As per the rest of the government there must be a reform of the political system in Morocco to accommodate them, the Moroccan Diaspora is too obvious to keep-on ignoring.
The Moroccan Diaspora will continue to boost the Moroccan economy and give it more vitality with unconditional financial support while the government sees this commitment as a one-way flow; but soon or later the government will regret such attitude because the billions of foreign currency that the Moroccans living abroad transfer to Moroccan banks are only one part of their contribution, they also contribute to the development of non- governmental organizations to help the unprivileged and the remote areas which alleviate the burden of directly investing in these areas from the government. They also contribute with other forms of patriotism which is worth more than any hard currency, their art, sports and philanthropy.
Things that the government in general and the minister of Moroccans living a broad ought to do to show good faith are simple and straight forward: To genuinely commit this ministry to serving the community To defend with the utmost strength the rights of Moroccans in their host countries To intervene directly or through the consular system in cases of extreme urgency pertaining to Moroccans living abroad To open a dialogue with the community in order to properly serve them To alleviate the bureaucracy and over taxation on property and customs To discus the representation in the parliament with the community To be fair and honest with them, because they deserve it.
Moroccans abroad in Figures
Population
France (1999) 1,024,766
Netherlands 422,000
Belgium (2000) 500,000
Germany(2000) 293,000
Spain 610,000 2007 (more than 300 000 are illegal)
Italy 319,537, (2003)
UK 74,000 (1999)
Denmark 17,000
US 85,000
Canada 70,000
Libya 120,000
Algeria 63,000
Tunisia 16,414
Saudi Arabia 11,973
UAE 8,359
Other Arab 12,216
Israel 270,188
Sub-Saharan Africa 5,355
Other countries 3,959
The Numbers are much higher(moste are old numbers),an the moste countries give only the number of moroccans without a citizenship
No, just kidding! I don't like this kind of dependency to the french language neither...A website dedicated to the Moroccan Diaspora must be at least, in arabic, french and english! And why not, in Hebew 