Morocco fully complies with minimum standards for elimination of Persons' trafficking, US report
Morocco, Local, 6/14/2003

Morocco fully complies with the minimum standards for the elimination of persons' trafficking, the US State Department said in a 2003 Report on Trafficking in Persons.

"The Government of Morocco participated in several high-level meetings with the European Union and the Governments of Italy and Spain to strengthen migration policies and procedures to Europe," the report said, adding Moroccan diplomats in both transit and destination countries are trained to assist Moroccan victims, and Moroccan consular officers are trained to provide counsel to unattended at-risk adolescents in Spain and Italy.

Working with non-governmental organizations, the government has supported numerous anti-trafficking public awareness campaigns that warn young people about the dangers of migration to Europe and citizens against using child maids, the US State Department underlined.

While deploring that "Morocco has no law that specifically prohibits trafficking," the report conceded that the government utilizes a number of statutes covering kidnapping, forced prostitution, and coercion against traffickers. Law enforcement agencies actively investigate, prosecute and convict traffickers, it added, recalling that a former Belgian consul general was arrested in Morocco for recruiting Moroccan women to work in Belgian nightclubs.

"The police worked together with law enforcement from Saudi Arabia to break up a Moroccan trafficking ring consisting of 40 family members," the report said.

The Report also recalled a law adopted by the Moroccan Council of Ministers to increase punishments against traffickers.

"There is no evidence of official government involvement in trafficking," the report said, adding a government crackdown on all types of corruption within the public sector "has investigated approximately 10,000 officials for allegations of corruption, including corruption related to trafficking in persons."

The Moroccan government participates in anti-trafficking and anti-child labour campaigns with international organizations, repatriates former child maids to their families, and has created a Centre for Immigration that provides counselling services including explanation of legal and civil rights to migrants, the report went on.

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