The Northern African migration was the main theme of a meeting organized Thursday 6 June by the Centre on Migration, Policy and Society (COMPAS) of the Oxford university. The panel moderated by Moroccan-British Myriam Chetrit, included Mr Driss El Yazami, the president of the Council of the Moroccan Community Abroad (CCME), Dr Katharina Natter professor at the Dutch Universiteit van Leiden and M. Michael Collyer, professor at the university of Sussex.
The Meeting essentially focused on the Moroccan, Tunisian and Algerian Migration in Europe, also defined as the global North.
Mr. Driss El Yazami insisted on the historical background agreements with European countries since the mid 60s. He pursued the historical perspective by recounting every important political step made by the kingdom in terms of migration. The president of the CCME also pointed out how 6 million Moroccans who live abroad, are globalized, integrated and being more and more college educated.
He then said that migration depends on the European Union policy (EU) asking if there is a space for autonomy vis-à-vis Europe adding that “the Moroccan policies don’t always depend on the EU”. Speaking about the Maghreb countries, he said “we are becoming countries of transit. And one of the most important challenges we face is “how do we strengthen our diaspora's policies”.
Ms Katharina Natter, who intervened about the Tunisian experience, said that 10% of the Tunisian population lives abroad.
For his part, Mr. Michael Collier, who analyzed the Algerian migration said the post- colonial factor should be taken into account.
CCME