Forced Migration in the OIC Member Countries:
Policy Framework Adopted by Host Countries
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organizations active in Morocco.328 The law on general immigration, designed to replace the
02-03 law of 2003, is the least developed. The committee was not satisfied with the original
text, and as a result the law is still in the drafting process.329 The law establishing a national
asylum system, the most pertinent of the three for issues of forced migration, has theoretically
been agreed upon, but does not yet have a scheduled time to be debated by Parliament.330
Officially, the draft is still pending review by the council of government as it has been deemed
an important issue that requires more time for deliberation.331 Others fear that the law has
been held up by political reasons, and that it may be further delayed by the upcoming
elections in October 2016.332
As of now, limited information about the draft asylum law is known. It is reported to comprise
60 articles, detailing the legal guarantees pertaining to refugees and asylum seekers and
establishing a national asylum system with the status determination procedure at its core.333
While the law sets out a foundation for the national asylum system, it is designed to evolve as
the various public policies are enacted to implement it. Refugee status determinations and the
accompanying legal and administrative refugee protection will be carried out by an
autonomous public institution. This institution would also have local representations to avoid
being overly centralized. Rejected asylum seekers will hold the ability to appeal the decision
through the administrative court of Rabat.334
It is reported that three major categories of protection will be created under the draft law. The
first is refugee status, using the definition of the 1951 Convention. The second form is
subsidiary protection, a status similar to what is used in the European Union, which expands
the criteria beyond the 1951 Convention, such as the Convention Against Torture’s principle
of nonrefoulement.335 Finally, the law also would create a status for temporary protection, to
be provided in the case of massive flows of individuals fleeing situations of conflict or
generalized violence.336
Pursuant to the 1951 Convention, persons who are granted asylum in Morocco will receive the
right to work, a residence permit, and access to family reunification measures.337 Those who
receive subsidiary protection will also receive the right to residency and work. Interestingly,
the law also stipulates a number of rights that are guaranteed for asylum seekers before their
328 Before this, Morocco had not had any anti-human trafficking law on the books, and existing laws tended to conflate
human trafficking with human smuggling. U.S. Department of State Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons,
“2014 Trafficking in Persons Report: Morocco,” accessed August 8, 2016,
HuffPost Maroc, “Le Maroc adopte le projet de loi
relatif à la lutte contre la traite des êtres humains,” June 2, 2016
Soumaya Bencherki, “Les députés adoptent le projet de loi sur la lutte contre le trafic
des êtres humains,” May 22, 2016,
329 Interview conducted by Natalia Banulescu-Bogdan, Rabat, March 2016
330 Interview conducted by Natalia Banulescu-Bogdan, Rabat, March 2016
331 Based on a presentation by the Ministry of Justice on the new legal framework for immigration and asylum. Ministry of
Justice, “La mise à niveau du cadre juridique et institutionnel relatif à l’asile, à l’immigration et à la traite des êtres humains,”
(presented March 2015).
332 Ministry of Justice, “La mise à niveau du cadre juridique et institutionnel relatif à l’asile, à l’immigration et à la traite des
êtres humains”; Reuters, “Morocco to hold parliamentary elections in 2015,” Al-Arabiyah English, updated January 28, 2016,
333 Ministry of Justice, “La mise à niveau du cadre juridique et institutionnel relatif à l’asile, à l’immigration et à la traite des
êtres humains”
334 Ibid.
335 Ibid; For example, the Swedish asylum law (detailed in Section 5) includes such provisions.
336 Ibid.
337 Ibid.