EU and Morocco Sign New Migration Agreements to Strengthen Border Control

Morocco has just reactivated its cooperation with Spain and the EU in the field of border protection and the fight against migratory flows. The new agreements signed in Rabat provide for the strengthening of the Royal Armed Forces with vehicles and security cameras at the borders, reports El Español. This support aims to strengthen the operational capacities of Moroccan institutions in integrated border management, particularly in the areas of border surveillance (land and sea), the fight against migrant trafficking and human trafficking.

To read: Spain Provides Over €100 Million in Development Aid to Morocco, Boosting Education and Health

Since 2014, Europe has granted 232 million euros in aid to Morocco. The funds have allowed the Moroccan Ministry of the Interior to acquire drones, maritime radars, portable GPS, mapping systems, surveillance devices and more than a thousand vehicles of different classes as well as motorcycles.

This EU support to Morocco seems to worry some human rights defenders who fear a use of the equipment by Morocco for other purposes. "It is dual-use technological equipment, because it is intended for civilian use as harmless equipment, but it can also be used for repressive action," explained Javier G. Vega, professor of international law and international relations, alluding to the conflict between the Polisario Front and Morocco in the Sahara.

To read: Spain Funds Morocco’s Border Security Despite Diplomatic Tensions

On the Spanish side, the resumption of migration cooperation is a harbinger of the resumption of diplomatic relations with Morocco. The Spanish authorities hope that the high-level summit between the two countries can be held soon. They also call for a meeting between Kings Mohammed VI and Pedro Sánchez before the end of the year or early 2022.

The resumption of cooperation between Morocco and the EU comes in a particular context of crises marked by the rupture in August of diplomatic relations between Rabat and Algiers, and the subsequent closure of the Maghreb-Europe gas pipeline, not to mention the war threats of the Polisario Front, supported by Algeria, against Morocco. Tensions escalated last week with the death of three Algerian truckers in the Sahara, which Algeria accuses Morocco of.