Morocco Hosts Over 17,000 Refugees, Nearly Quarter Under 12 Years Old

According to the data published by UNHCR, Syrian refugees are at the top with 5,040 people. They are followed by Yemenis with 1,097 refugees. In third place are the Central Africans (932). As for the other nationalities, there are Côte d’Ivoire (389), South Sudan (379), Palestine (257), Democratic Republic of Congo (192), Cameroon (175), Guinea (143), Iraq (127), Senegal (106), Mali (56), Sudan (32), Nigeria (25) and Gambia (2).

UNHCR points out that among these refugees, there are 5,731 men (62.3%) against 3,461 women (37.7%). Most of them (66%) are between 18 and 59 years old. 24% are between 0 and 12 years old, for a total of 2,210. Also, 22% of these refugees have no schooling, 31% have a primary level and 24% have a secondary level. Only 20% have reached a university level.

They are found in many cities in the country. If Rabat has the largest number of refugees with 1,373, Casablanca comes in second with 942 refugees, followed by Oujda (854), Nador (676), Marrakech (511), Fez (480), Kenitra (426) and Meknes (422). The rest are found in the other cities of the Kingdom.

As for asylum seekers, they number 8,410 as of the end of November 2021. They come from Guinea, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal, Sudan, Mali, Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of Congo or Gambia.