Morocco’s Migration Reform of 2013: A Geostrategic Move Beyond Human Rights

Abstract

Morocco has gained global prominence in migration, evolving into a country of emigration, transit, and immigration. Reinforcing this prominence is its 2013 migration reform, which marked a departure from decades of restrictive policies. Previously, migration was governed by Law 02-03, which focused on security, regarding the entry (immigration), stay (residence), and movement of foreigners, as well as issues related to emigration and irregular immigration. In 2013, King Mohammed VI announced a human rights-driven and participatory migration policy, marking a shift away from security-based measures. While widely praised, this reform raised questions about its underlying drivers and motivation, given several structural and practical inconsistencies. Beyond the outlined social dynamics, this study examines Morocco’s migration reform through Abdelmalek Sayad’s theory of ‘thinking the state’
(1990), which links migration policies to broader geostrategic and diplomatic ambitions. It explores how Morocco’s radical reform has been strategically instrumentalized to forge an international brand image and secure geostrategic and foreign policy goals, particularly in Africa. This study is based on fieldwork (semi-structured interviews) conducted in-person in Morocco and via teleconferencing tools with migration policy experts in Morocco and with Moroccan migration stakeholders, providing insights into the reform’s underlying drivers and its role in shaping Morocco’s regional influence. The fieldwork revealed that Morocco’s migration reform, on the one hand, serves to portray the monarchy as a progressive and human-rights-driven regime, and on the other, enables Morocco to assume a leadership role on both continental and regional levels.