IThis is a first series of meetings, which will continue from 4 to 7 July in Strasbourg. Chaired by the Istiqlalien Lahcen Haddad, the Moroccan delegation met with 27 MEPs representing the different political groups sitting in the European Parliament, with a view to discussing the reports drawn up by the Human Rights and Foreign Affairs Committees, said a statement from the commission.
On the human rights side, the Europeans were preparing to adopt a report containing recommendations condemning Morocco on the issue of the protection of journalists, before an intervention by Moroccan MPs, explains to TelQuel Lahcen Haddad, Chairman of the Morocco-EU Joint Parliamentary Committee.
According to the official statement of the committee, it was the rapporteur of the European Parliament, Isabel Wiseler-Lima of the group of the European People’s Party (EPP group), who carried out the preliminary drafting of the main report of the Committee on Human Rights. on the protection of journalists around the world and EU policy, set up after discussions with journalists and experts in the field.
Recognizing Morocco’s Challenges
“Similarly, we prevented the adoption of a resolution condemning Morocco regarding what happened in Melilia. Towards the end of the discussions, the majority of deputies, except those on the far left, praised Morocco’s role in managing the migration issue, confirming the challenges it faces”says Lahcen Haddad.
This is a report by MEP Antonio López-Istúriz White (EPP Group) on foreign and security policy in the context of the renewal of the partnership with southern neighbors and the new Mediterranean Agenda, where he discussed a proposed amendment and a draft resolution “anti-marocain” tabled by a group of MEPs from the group of the Greens and the United European Left led by MEP Idoia Villanueva Ruiz and MEP Marisa Matias.
The press release indicates that during the same period and in parallel with the incidents of Melilia, these two groups in the European Parliament proceeded to the presentation of an urgent draft anti-Moroccan resolution.
“Faced with this premeditated strategy against Morocco led by certain MEPs supporting the separatist theses of the ‘Polisario’ and their vain attempt to mislead European public opinion, the members of the Morocco-EU Joint Parliamentary Committee have intensified their meetings with leading European parliamentarians”adds the document.
As for the plenary session of the European body held yesterday in Strasbourg, it “contented itself, after adoption of the agenda, with opening a 20-minute debate, during which several European parliamentarians demonstrated the risks of the acts of the mafias of illegal immigration, which proceeded to arm irregular migrants who entered Morocco illegally, which led to the attack on the metal fence of Melilia, and the death of 23 migrants, and generated multiple positions with legal, judicial and political dimensions following these incidents unleashed by the migration mafias”it is pointed out.
For a global approach to the management of the migratory flow
However, MEPs reaffirmed, during the meetings, the passage through Algeria of illegal immigrants, but without referring to any “laxity” Algerian, Haddad tells us. In this sense, the Moroccan deputies sent a letter to their EU counterparts, in which they called for “rethinking partnerships and neighborhood policies to move towards a more sustainable and mutually beneficial approach to migration that protects borders and national sovereignties”.
According to the Istiqlalian deputy, the parties have both confirmed the need to adopt a global approach in the management of the migratory flow, insisting on the fact that Morocco is both a country of transit, reception and also an exporter. of migrants. “Morocco must therefore assume its responsibilities, but it is only supposed to control its own borders. The partnership on migration does not mean delegating the management of this issue to the kingdom”he adds.
He also indicated that the assembled deputies discussed the possibility of allocating to Morocco a possible grant to help it better manage the flow of migrants to the northern shore of the Mediterranean. “It’s debated”he said.
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