Eric van der Burg, The Netherlands’ Minister for Migration, stated in an interview with the Dutch daily newspaper De Telegraaf on Monday that the agreement with Morocco governing deporting Moroccan citizens seeking asylum in the Netherlands has yielded significant results, with 250 individuals having been repatriated to Morocco last year.
Van der Burg disclosed that an additional 700 individuals are currently on the Netherland’s deportation list for the next six months.
Despite improvement in the relationship between the two countries, however, difficulties remain. Van der Burg agreed that some new entrants have adjusted to their new circumstances by falling into illegality before their asylum requests are rejected.
“They know very well that they cannot stay and will be detained if their claims are dismissed,” he said.
Citing the Netherlands’ national statistics, he said that some 800 Moroccan nationals had requested refuge in the Netherlands last year.
This outcome of the numbers of refugee seekers announced by the Dutch minister, is the result of a meeting with Morocco’s Interior Minister, Abdelouafi Laftit, in February 2023, which saw the strengthening of the Permanent Joint Migration Group that enabled qualitative and coordinated progress on all aspects of migration.
Both ministers also pledged to strengthen exchanges of experience and information to better anticipate the threats and challenges resulting from criminal activities of cross-border smuggling networks, especially the smuggling of migrants and human trafficking.