Morocco Rises in Global Terrorism Index, Ranks Among Safest Nations

In this edition of the Global Terrorism Index (GTI), Morocco has progressed seven places compared to 2022, where it had risen to 76th place. The kingdom is one of the countries where the impact of terrorism is very low, with a score of 0.757. A performance that is the result of the constant efforts and the effective policy of the kingdom in the fight against terrorism. Morocco set up the Central Bureau of Judicial Investigations (BCIJ) in 2015 to strengthen security governance and modernize and professionalize Moroccan security services after the Casablanca attacks of 2003.

On the religious level, Morocco has also carried out deep reforms in order to deconstruct the ideological theses that lead to violent extremism. Thus, in 2004, Islamic education was revised within the framework of a Unified National School, and a year later, in 2015, the "Mohammed VI Institute for the Training of Imams, Mourchidines and Mourchidates" was inaugurated by King Mohammed VI. This institution was created to promote an authentic, moderate and open Islam, it is indicated.

On the socio-economic level, several programs to fight against poverty, vulnerability and precariousness have been launched with the aim of preventing preachers of hatred and indoctrinators from taking advantage of the condition of vulnerability of a fringe of the Moroccan population to radicalize them and push them towards violent extremism. This is the objective of the National Initiative for Human Development, launched in 2005 by Mohammed VI, and which promotes income-generating activities.

In the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, 14 countries show an improvement in the fight against terrorism, three (United Arab Emirates, Israel and Iran) show a deterioration and three have recorded no change, the report notes, noting that Morocco, Oman, Qatar and Kuwait have not recorded any terrorist attack over the past five years. At the same time, the report notes a sharp rise in terrorism in the Sahel, due to complex and systemic factors such as poor governance, ethnic polarization, abuses by state security forces, pastoral conflicts, political instability, the rise of transnational Salafist ideology, etc.