RABAT, Morocco (AP) Morocco's official human rights group has called for a new policy to integrate immigrants in the country with the help of European funding, amid persistent criticism over their treatment at the hands of security forces.
Responding to the recommendation, King Mohammed VI met with government officials
on Tuesday and agreed a new policy is needed, noting that migration from of sub-Saharan Africans has quadrupled and there are now also Spanish and French fleeing Europe's economic crisis.
Morocco has long been a major transit point for immigrants from all over Africa seeking a better life in Europe, whether by crossing the Mediterranean Sea or trying to storm the Spanish enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla on the Moroccan coast.
Rights groups have repeatedly criticized the treatment of migrants at the hands of security forces, describing beatings, arbitrary arrests, abuse and expulsions across desert borders without water. There are also many cases of Europeans fleeing unemployment in their home countries and finding skilled jobs in Morocco.
The government's National Council for Human Rights recommended in its report Monday that the country integrate some migrants into society, with jobs, schooling and a legal status. The council said European countries should "work actively for the success of this operation and mobilize the human and financial resources necessary to put in place a policy of integrating migrants."
