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Georgetown University

Publication Date

Fall 2015

Program Name

Morocco: Migration and Transnational Identity

Abstract

Morocco’s border with the Spanish enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla has brought the country into direct relations with the European Union (EU) on the issues of border control and migration. In response to the growing human rights violations towards migrants and refugees enumerated in the Conseil Nationale des Droits de l’Homme’s (CNDH) 2013 report, King Muhammad VI passed a migratory policy that emphasized preservation of human rights within Morocco’s borders. This study examines the effects of Morocco’s relationship with the EU on the implementation of the human-rights aspects of Morocco’s 2013 migratory policy. Using the semi-structured interview approach, I will speak with migration scholars and activists to determine the nature of Morocco’s relationship with the EU to gain an understanding of the reality migrants and refugees face, especially in Northern Morocco. Through comparison of these narratives with the official partnerships and policies implemented between Morocco and the EU, this study seeks to determine whether the ongoing human rights violations near the Moroccan-Spanish borders are the result of pressure from the EU, a failure of the 2013 migratory policy, or a mixture of both phenomena. The lack of awareness about the new policy among individuals at the border in combination with increasing pressure from the EU due to the ongoing Mediterranean crisis are both massive obstacles to the implementation of the 2013 law. Though these factors contribute to the ongoing human rights violations, this study examines the possibility of human rights existing at any border.

Disciplines

Family, Life Course, and Society | Immigration Law | Inequality and Stratification | International Humanitarian Law | Law and Society | Near and Middle Eastern Studies | Politics and Social Change | Race and Ethnicity

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