Doha – The French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau came to a short but crucial visit to Rabat on Sunday evening to strengthen security cooperation and migration management between France and Morocco.
The visit comes that the relationships between Paris and Rabat continue to improve after the Moroccan sovereignty in France was recognized via western Sahara last summer.
Retailleau’s journey, which is only planned for a few hours on Monday and was planned for some time, is at a crucial moment when France navigates complex diplomatic waters in North Africa and the relationships between Paris-Rabat flourished, while French alger bonds met new depths.
The timing became even more consistent when Algeria gave 12 officials from the French message only 48 hours to leave the country.
When retailleau arrived in the Moroccan capital on Sunday evening, he concentrated on important conversations with his Moroccan counterpart Abdelouafi Laftit.
“I have the feeling that the relationship with Morocco is fluid and we hope for satisfactory results in terms of migration cooperation.” specified Othman Nasrou, director of the Retailleau campaign for the presidency of the LR party, spoke before visiting Franceinfo.
The French Ministry of the Interior confirmed These discussions would mainly focus on three key areas: migration cooperation, combating organized crime and drug trafficking.
After the French Ministry of the Interior, the visit seeks “Consolidate the progress” with Morocco, especially with regard to consular passes and takeover volumes. The French Ministry of the Interior issues around 283,000 visas to Moroccan citizens every year
This meeting builds on the dynamics, which was generated in Morocco in October 2024 in the “historical” state visit of French President Emmanuel Macron, where an “reinforced partnership” was announced between the two countries.
Unprecedented progress in migration cooperation
The statistics show concrete progress in migration management. “Between January and February, a spectacular increase in consular passes increased by 93% compared to the same period in the previous year,” reported a high -ranking official from the French Interior Ministry.
The data show an increase of 60% when returning to Morocco in January to February 2025 compared to 2024.
Didier Leschi, director of the French Office for Immigration and Integration (OFII), provided a context of these figures: “In France, there were 12,954 Moroccans in irregular situations in France, 1,658 of whom had effectively returned. In comparison, there were more than 33,000 Algerians who belonged together in irregular situations. 2.999.
He added: “The problem with Morocco is proportionally less significant than with Algeria, but it remains important because Morocco serves as a transit point for many people who go to Spain.”
Cooperation has entered into a new phase of effectiveness, with 96% of the irregular Moroccan migrants who have identification documents have now been successfully returned.
“In the migration flow, 30% of those who maintain the right to come in France and to settle down for economic reasons – engineers, technicians,” said Leschi, stating that “Moroccans are among the first students in France.”
The ministerial meeting surpasses far beyond the scope of migration management and deals with a broader spectrum of the security challenges that range from coordinating terrorist control to joint efforts to ensure large international sporting events.
The effectiveness of Morocco at the dismantling of illegal migration networks has particularly impressed the French authorities, since Moroccan services resolved 332 illegal networks last year compared to 269 French authorities.
Use of Morocco participation In the security agreements for the Olympic Games of the last summer in Paris, France offered to support the security preparations for the hosting of the Africa Cup of Nations 2025 (AFCON) in Morocco.
The visit is also a goal to strengthen cooperation in combating organized crime and drug trafficking. Both countries try to determine what French officials call the “partnership of excellence” in security issues.
Diplomatic Renaissance
This increased partnership follows a tension when France halved the number of visas that were granted Moroccan nationals in 2021-2022 and tried to put Rabat under pressure, to accept more deported.
The situation was dramatically reversed when Morocco is now classified as a second country (outside the Schengen area), to which France returns most people to leave the French territory (OQTF).
“We work on the principles of reciprocity, a partner discussion, provided that everyone plays their role,” said Nasrou and emphasized the deepening of bilateral relationships.
He emphasized the existence of “common subjects” with Morocco, especially when controlling the fight against terrorism and drug trafficking.
The contrast to French-Algerian relationships could not be more noticeable. “We will never abdicate and never abdicate Bruno Retailleau, for the simple and good reason we are right,” said Nasrou about the attitude of France to Algeria, which “does not respect his international obligations”, which does not respect the takeover of its nationals.
Read too: Moroccan immigration to France takes over 600,000 when the North African numbers rise
