King Mohammed VI announced on Wednesday evening the restructuring of institutions dedicated to Moroccans living abroad (MRE) in order to strengthen their ties with the Kingdom. This will involve a complete overhaul of the attributions of the Council of the Moroccan Community Abroad (CCME) and the creation of the Mohammedia Foundation for Moroccans living abroad.
During his speech commemorating the 49th anniversary of the Green March, His Majesty the King particularly paid tribute to the patriotism of Moroccans living abroad and their commitment to defending the sacred symbols of the Nation and contributing to the development of their country.
In order to strengthen the connection between this section of the population and the motherland, the Sovereign announced a new “turn” in the field of managing the affairs of the Moroccan Community residing abroad: a major “Royal re-engineering” of the institutional system for Moroccans residing abroad.
The institutions concerned will thus be restructured, in such way as to prevent the overlap of their respective attributions and the dispersion of stakeholders and to ensure their adaptation to the new needs of this community.
The “institutional shift” inaugurated by the Sovereign comes in response to the Royal Speech of August 2022 in which His Majesty the King drew up an uncompromising diagnosis of the current governance of the issue of Moroccans residing abroad and called for a profound rethink of the State’s action towards this Community. Work was then prepared in this direction at the level of the ministerial departments concerned, within the framework of an interministerial commission chaired by the Head of Government.
The Council of the Moroccan Community Abroad, which, as an autonomous constitutional institution, must fully assume its role as a framework for reflection and a force for proposals and reflect the representativeness of the different components of this community.
In this regard, the Sovereign gave his instructions to expedite the adoption of the new law relating to the Council, with a view to its installation as soon as possible.
As for the “Mohammedia Foundation for Moroccans Residing Abroad”, once established, will become the operational arm of public policy in this area.
The new Foundation will be responsible for aggregating the attributions currently dispersed among a multitude of actors, coordinating the development and implementation of the National Strategy dedicated to Moroccans residing abroad, taking into consideration the diversification of forms of links and expressions of attachment of MREs to their country of origin.
In addition, this new structure will ensure the management of the “National Mechanism for Mobilizing the Skills of Moroccans Residing Abroad”, which “We have called for the creation of and which We have included at the top of the missions assigned to the Foundation”, indicated the Sovereign.
The aim is to pave the way for Moroccan skills and expertise established abroad and to support those carrying out initiatives and projects.
This institution will give a strong boost to the linguistic, cultural and religious supervision of members of the community, all generations combined.
In this regard, one of the major challenges that this body will have to address is the simplification and digitalization of administrative and judicial procedures for Moroccans residing abroad. The Sovereign also expressed his commitment to opening new perspectives to members of the Community who are keen to invest in their country, noting that “it is inconceivable that their contribution to the volume of private national investments is limited to 10%”. The highly symbolic association between the National Cause and Moroccans residing abroad in the King’s speech of November 6 is recognition of the role played by the latter as ambassadors and constant defenders of the National Cause.
Apart from a few marginal people, beholden to foreign agendas, the Community of Moroccans of the World is known for its fervent patriotism, its firm and unwavering attachment to the Constants of the nation, and its active and unwavering defense of the National Cause. It stands as a solid bulwark against all separatist tendencies and the temptations of misguided opposition, or even treason, against the interests of the nation. In addition, the community of Moroccans living abroad constitutes a valuable lever for the social and economic development of Morocco. As shown by the ever-increasing volumes of their transfers, they are strongly interested in the development of their country of origin and aspire to contribute more to it, particularly in terms of investments and the transfer of skills and expertise.
