Syrian Refugees Now Largest Group in Morocco, HCP Survey Reveals

The results of the survey carried out by the High Commission for Planning have just been released. Syrians constitute the largest group of refugees in Morocco. Nearly half of the refugees established in Morocco are of Syrian origin. This survey was carried out to assess the impact of Covid-19 on the socioeconomic and psychological situation of refugees in Morocco. During the survey, the number of refugees in Morocco stands at around 7,000 people and the number of refugee households at 2,168 units. More than 61% are men, 30.3% are under 18 years old, 67.2% are between 18 and 59 years old and 2.5% are 60 years old and over.

Half of the refugees in Morocco are Syrians with a rate of 48%. The others are Yemenis, Central Africans, South Sudanese, Ivorians. A tiny part represents other African countries and Arab countries. More than a third of the refugees live in the cities of Rabat, Casablanca, Oujda and other cities like Nador, Kenitra, Fez, Salé, Meknes, Tangier and Marrakech.

This presence is recent since almost all of the refugees, or 98.5%, arrived after the year 2000. In the same survey, more than half of the heads of households have a valid residence permit. Those with an expired residence permit represent 14.7%, mainly South Sudanese, Ivorians and Central Africans. In terms of gender, more than 82.1% of heads of households are men, and 17.9% are women, including Ivorians, South Sudanese and Central Africans. Regarding marital status, more than half of the refugee heads of households, or 55.7%, are single, with 70.4% women and 52.5% men. There are also married men, divorced, and widowed.

On the academic side, almost all refugee heads of households, or 91.5%, have an educational level. According to the breakdown by type of activity, 43.8% of refugee heads of households are economically active. The service sector is the largest employer for refugees in Morocco with a rate of 28.8%. The construction sector comes in second with 24.8%, followed by trade (15.8%), catering (11%), agriculture (9.1%) and industry with 5%.

Regarding housing, almost all refugee households in Morocco, or 94.7%, are tenants of their homes, with no significant difference by country of origin.