Migrants rights resources center created
Morocco, Culture, 4/26/2002

The Moroccan ministry of human rights and the International Organization for Migrations (IOM) signed Wednesday in Rabat a memorandum of intent to set up a resource center for migrants rights, which will be the first institution in the world to specialize in the rights of migrants.

The center is created part of the international cooperation agreement with the High Commissariat for Refugees, and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).

The creation of the center comes at the right time, Moroccan minister of human rights, Mohammed Aujjar, said. He deplored that while free movement of capital and goods is encouraged, the movement of people is still hampered.

Morocco, with nearly three million expatriates (abroad), mainly legal migrants, is deeply concerned over this multiple-faceted issue, he said.

Our country's geographic location made it a bridge, a melting pot for cultures, a neighbor, but also a partner of the European (Union), and one of the most sensitive issues "in our relations with Europe is immigration," Aujjar said.

IOM director general, Brunson Mc Kinley, lauded Morocco's willingness to cooperate with the organization, the creation of the resource center for migrants rights which, he said, is very important for "Morocco, for the IOM, but also for the world."

Kinley said his organization wants to work in partnership with the western Mediterranean countries (5"5), and announced the coming ministerial conference to be held in Tunis to start a "reasonable" dialogue between the Maghreb Union and the European Union, on what they can do together.

The two parties discussed the international convention for the protection of migrants and their family members, signed by Morocco to be enacted in the next few months.

Previous Stories:
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  Moroccan human rights association insists fighting impunity is business of all   (4/2/2001)
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