Macron's trade-off: Western Sahara for migrant returns

By Théo Bourgery-Gonse

The Elysee has pulled out its thesaurus to describe French President Emmanuel Macron's official trip to Morocco on Monday (28 October). An "exceptional" state visit marks "a new chapter" in the countries' bilateral relationship and the "writing of a new book together," it said.

If one, however, does judge a book by its cover, this praise amounts to nothing less than 'a strategic duty.'

Both countries have always had close economic and diplomatic ties, given their geographic closeness and Morocco’s past as a French ‘protectorate,' which Macron described as a time of "colonial violence" during a speech at the Moroccan parliament on Tuesday.

France is Morocco’s number-one foreign investment partner, and Moroccans are France’s second-largest diaspora after Algerians. Now, Macron wants to strengthen ties so closely that it would make Rabat its most economically integrated partner after EU member states.

But the exuberant celebratory terms, the grandiosity of the trip and the handshakes on business deals worth some €10 billion both leaders are expected to rubberstamp hide a much deeper, more uncomfortable truth.

Macron is trying to convince Morocco it should take on more migrants who have been refused EU asylum in France.

For the past five years, Rabat has made it close to impossible to return migrants – either Moroccan citizens or third-country migrants who transited through Morocco on their way to the EU – after their asylum claims are rejected by a French court.

From 870 effective returns to Morocco in 2019, the figure dropped to a historic low of 170 in 2021, according to a Senate report. The figure was back up to 725 returns in 2023, French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau said in an interview, comparing that number to the 238,750 visas granted to Moroccans to work and study in France that same year.

“We are too generous, with no payback,” he said.

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• The President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, will meet the President of the Spanish Senate, Pedro Rollán, and the President of the New Economy Forum, José Luis Rodríguez, in Madrid, Spain.
• Commissioners will participate in the College of the Commissioners meeting in Brussels, Belgium.
• European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will meet President-elect of the European Council António Costa in Brussels, Belgium.
• Von der Leyen will also meet Steffen Kam-peter, managing director of the Confederation of German Employers' Associations (BDA).
• Heinrich Böll Stiftung is organising in Brussels, Belgium a conference debate “From democratic resilience to democratic security: A post-2024 democracy agenda for the EU.” 
• Friends of Europe is organising a conference in Brussels, Belgium, on “From aid to investment: shaping Europe's global role in a changing world.”