Morocco Faces Calls to Reform Nationality Law Over Gender Discrimination

Article 10 of the Moroccan nationality law does not allow a Moroccan woman to transmit her nationality to her foreign spouse, while the Moroccan man, on the other hand, enjoys this right if he marries a foreigner, points out the follow-up committee in a recent report. A disparity, described as discrimination by the United Nations Committee, which the follow-up committee calls to correct through an urgent revision of the nationality law, reports Hespress. For the committee, the difficulties encountered in the registration of births and the granting of Moroccan nationality to children born on Moroccan territory to stateless parents and refugees, particularly single mothers from Sahel countries, exacerbate the dangers and consequences of statelessness. Morocco has other challenges to meet, including the ratification of certain international human rights instruments, such as the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, aiming at the abolition of the death penalty.

Referring to the difficulties encountered by the Amazighs, particularly in the regions where they are predominantly present, the committee’s report stressed the persistence of poverty in these regions, as well as the racial discrimination faced by the Amazighs, particularly in access to employment, health and education. Furthermore, the committee is concerned about the delimitation of Amazigh collective lands. These lands, it notes, are often confiscated without adequate consultation of the local communities. A confiscation that particularly affects Amazigh women, especially widows. As for the Amazigh language, the committee calls for intensified efforts to promote its use and Amazigh culture in all aspects of public life, including in education and the media.