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A Moroccan fix to Europe’s migrant crisis | Christian Science Monitor
Morocco’s new approach has “regularized” nearly 20,000 migrants, “granting residency and setting up programs to integrate them into society and teach them how to run a small business”:
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 “Fortress Europe.”
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 “new vision” 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 “buffer state,” similar to other countries around Europe, in an attempt by the EU to outsource the arrest, detention, and rejection of migrants…[Full Story]