Prime Minister Alexander De Croo, as well as ministers Paul Van Tigchelt, Annelies Verlinden, Hadja Lahbib and the Secretary of State for Asylum and Migration Nicole de Moor, are in Morocco for a two-day mission. They are accompanied by top police officers and top officials from several government services to consult with their Moroccan counterparts. Around twenty Belgian entrepreneurs are also traveling with the government.

The mission is important as Belgium wants inter alia to improve the cooperation with Morocco regarding the readmission of Morrocan nationals sentenced in Belgium or who are staying in the country irregularly. Moroccans in Belgian prisons are an issue. Of a total of 12.000 detainees, 1.000 have Moroccan nationality. Of these, six in ten have no right of residence. Moroccans are also among the top nationalities who, when intercepted by the police, are found to be in Belgium without valid papers.

According to Nicole de Moor, the Moroccan government committed on 15 April 2024 to ensuring that any person identified as being of Moroccan nationality and without a residence permit in Belgium will be readmitted in Morocco. No concrete figures have been agreed, but the Secretary of State assured that it was a “very clear commitment” and a “strong guarantee” of better cooperation in the future.

Compliance with this commitment should make it possible to simplify and speed up return procedures, even if identifying people remains a complex task: very often, these people do not have identity papers. However, since the beginning of the month, five agents of the Immigration Office, who have received the status of judicial police officer, are authorised to search smartphones for identification elements, such as passport photos, as long as criminal acts are involved.

For further information, please read these press articles from De Tijd (in Dutch) or from DH (in French).