The Impact of the Marrakech Compact for Migration in Morocco: The Role of the Government and of Civil Society

Abstract

Whether and how the GCM will impact national migration orders depends crucially on whether and how both governments and non-state actors engage with it in practice. This article takes Morocco as a case study and focuses on the role of the government and civil society. It asks how far their practices regarding the GCM support its potential as a soft law instrument to impact national migration orders. To undertake a more fine-grained analysis, the article includes an analysis of the implementation of Objective 15 (provision of basic services) as a test case. The paper draws on government reports, civil society reports and semi-structured interviews with policy makers and members of civil society. It identifies good conditions for the GCM to have an impact, in particular Moroccan claimed leadership in migration affaires in Africa; its engagement with the GCM’s review mechanism, and its reliance on the GCM to legitimise migration policies even if some of those policies, as shown by the test case regarding objective 15, are not fully in conformity with the GCM. As to the role of civil society, its impact on the implementation of the GCM is hampered by the sceptical view of most non-governmental organization regarding the GCM. The majority of civil society considers the GCM’s content very problematic and even if a small number of NGOs is positive about (parts of) it, not all of them invoke the GCM in their daily work. The test case regarding Objective 15 shows that NGOs monitoring access to services do not rely on this Objective. Combined with the lack of formal involvement in the national review process, civil society actors are so far unable (or unwilling) to exploit the political potential of the GCM.