The government spokesman, Mustapha Baitas, assured that the issue of visa restrictions, applied in particular by France, “must be put to the other party”.
If the reason for these restrictions is related to the return of minors, “Morocco has fulfilled its part of the deal”assured the Minister during the press briefing following the Council of Government, meeting this Thursday, November 24 by videoconference.
Regarding the return of these minors, he continued, there were clear royal guidelines and directives given to the Ministers of the Interior and Foreign Affairs to deal with this file, and “they are applied to the letter”.
Some difficulties still arise, they are especially related to administrative procedures at the level of the countries concerned, and make this return somewhat slowed down or delayed, said Baitas, noting that with regard to the Moroccan part, “there is a clear will to resolve the issue”.
As a reminder, the French President, Emmanuel Macron, recently defended the policy of firmness on visas, believing that it was beginning to bear fruit.
“This heat wave of the last few months has had an effect”, he estimated, adding: “We see that the returns (of expelled migrants) are facilitated”.
In September 2021, it will be recalled, Paris had decided to reduce by 50% the number of visas granted to Algeria and Morocco to put pressure on governments deemed “too uncooperative in the readmission of their nationals expelled from France “. This hardening, widely denounced in Morocco, triggered waves of indignation on social networks and threw a chill on relations between Rabat and Paris.