Morocco to Celebrate National Day for Citizens Abroad with Digital Focus
This annual celebration, established in 2003 by King Mohammed VI, aims to strengthen bonds between Moroccan expatriates and their homeland.
The event will focus on digitalization as a means to improve services for Moroccan expatriates. Celebrations will take place across various prefectures and provinces throughout Morocco, coordinated by the Department of Moroccans Residing Abroad and the Ministry of the Interior.
This approach enables expatriates visiting Morocco during summer to actively participate in the festivities. As of August 4, over 2.78 million diaspora members have entered Morocco as part of Marhaba 2025, an operation facilitating the transit of travelers during the summer season.
This year's national day celebration provides an opportunity to present achievements and challenges in digitalizing services for Moroccans abroad. It will feature public policies and sectoral programs related to digital transformation while gathering feedback from expatriates about their service needs.
The celebration will promote the exchange of ideas and the sharing of best practices among various sectors and public and private institutions involved in service digitalization.
Furthermore, the commemoration seeks to strengthen ties with the diaspora, foster dialogue, and revive their attachment to their country of origin. It creates space to value their contributions, listen to their aspirations, and encourage their involvement in Morocco's development.
The Moroccan diaspora, estimated at more than 5 million citizens living in over 100 countries, remains a focus of royal attention.
Since 2003, the department has selected relevant and current themes for this celebration, addressing expatriates' rights and interests as well as their contributions to Morocco's development. Topics have included mobilizing skills, encouraging investment, services and rights, and issues related to women, youth, and more.
This year's focus on digitalization reflects the growing importance of digital transformation in Morocco, in line with the country's broader 'Digital Morocco 2030' strategy aimed at positioning the kingdom as a regional tech leader.
Moroccans living abroad are a key force behind the country's progress
Beyond the national day celebration, the department recently organized the 16th Summer University from July 5-13 in Rabat. This program, which has welcomed nearly 4,000 participants since its 2009 launch, hosted 300 students aged 18-25 from about 30 countries this year.
Activities included conferences, thematic workshops, meetings on investing in Morocco, sports as a development lever, and visits to historical sites.
The department also celebrated Throne Day with approximately 100 skilled professionals and investors from the Moroccan diaspora representing about 60 countries.
A meeting titled 'Moroccans Residing Abroad: Essential Lever for Morocco's Development' accompanied this celebration, featuring representatives from the Office des Changes and the 13th Region of Moroccan Entrepreneurs of the World within the General Confederation of Moroccan Enterprises.
In 2024, remittances from Moroccans living abroad totaled 117.7 billion MAD ($11.7 billion), marking a 2.1% increase compared to 2023. This upward trend continued into early 2025, with remittances exceeding MAD 9.45 billion ($950 million) in January alone.
These consistent inflows highlight the Moroccan diaspora's vital economic role and the government's ongoing efforts to reinforce ties with its global citizens.
Through various initiatives, Morocco aims not only to preserve strong connections with its diaspora but also to harness their financial contributions, expertise, and investment potential as a strategic pillar of national development. Tags: Moroccan diasporaMoroccans resident Abroad
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Following the adoption of the 2011 Constitution, the NGO signed agreements with four major parties, the PPS, the PJD, the PAM, and Istiqlal, two from the governing majority and two from the opposition. A decade later, in March 2021, a bill tabled by Istiqlal for the direct political participation of MREs was rejected in Parliament, just months before the September 8 elections that year. Proposals left unanswered Cap Sud MRE's main proposal, agreed upon with the signatory parties, sought to implement Articles 16, 17, 18, and 163 of the Constitution. It called for creating a dedicated MRE college within the House of Councillors, or establishing a new constituency represented across five continents, with seats proportional to the number of MREs in each region. During the 2021 elections and up until 2025, neither option has been implemented or placed on the public debate agenda. «It would be a shame if the issue of electoral participation and the creation of constituencies became a bargaining chip in political negotiations, which would explain these years of rejection», said Fkire. «Beyond the political stakes our participation represents, it is also an essential issue for maintaining ties between the third and fourth generations and the mother nation». According to Fkire, «the question today is whether political parties in Parliament, as well as the government, will allow the creation of constituencies abroad, just as Senegal, France, and Italy do for their citizens, proportionally to the size of the community abroad». Cap Sud MRE maintains that «the representativeness of constituencies for Moroccans abroad is a legislative and political mechanism best suited to addressing our issues as MREs, especially since His Majesty has given his directives for full and complete participation». «It's not about making this change at the expense of local representation in national constituencies, but rather about adding around 15% more parliamentary seats to allow Moroccans worldwide to sit alongside other elected officials, participate in parliamentary committees, and join constitutional institutions», he added. Calls for political will Frustration is also mounting among those who have participated in politics in their countries of residence but remain excluded in Morocco. 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He also expressed «incomprehension about the motivations behind spreading the idea, especially as each election approaches, that Morocco is not yet ready for the participation of its citizens abroad». In his view, «the best mechanism of representation for MRE would be to hold elections through the consulates, as other countries do in consular constituencies abroad, including Spain». This, he argued, would ensure that many of the issues facing Moroccans abroad are better represented and addressed. «It's an interesting option to consider, provided there is genuine political will to involve citizens worldwide in the process, whether in government, the majority, or the opposition». «Our various Moroccan consulates abroad are very well placed to ensure the smooth running of such operations. The logistical resources are available, and our human resources in these representations are among the most qualified to ensure this mobilization», he added. For Chaïb, creating constituencies for Moroccans abroad would be «a powerful tool for raising political awareness about issues related to their country of origin, starting with the national cause, which deserves to be championed by a significant political force through elected representatives and institutions». From constitutional principle to legal action University professor and migration researcher Abdelkrim Belguendouz argues that since the 2011 Constitution, the political participation of MREs through electoral representation «remains entirely open». «When it is proposed that to run for office, one must apply in a constituency on national territory, this formula does not take into account the specificity of Moroccans worldwide», he told Yabiladi. «The constitutional principle lays foundations whose details must be defined in organic laws and framework laws, which have yet to address the subject», he said. «Voting by proxy has proven its limits in effectively including MREs in electoral processes. Reports from the National Human Rights Council (CNDH) show that recourse to this option remains extremely minimal». «The royal speech of August 20, 2022, provided guidance in favor of including MREs in political life; it remains to be seen whether legislation has since taken their specificities into account», Belguendouz added. «Not only has the government not responded to this royal appeal, but it also took until the speech of November 6, 2024, for the orientation to be reaffirmed. Even now, it still finds no echo among politicians and the relevant actors». «With the latest Throne Day speech, we can only welcome the start of consultations with political parties for election preparations. This time, the arguments of anti-participation advocates, citing time constraints, logistical hurdles, and human resources, to postpone the MRE question are no longer acceptable», he concluded, stressing that the ball is now in the political parties' court.
Ya Biladi
20 hours ago
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Moroccans abroad still waiting for a voice in Parliament, over a decade after 2011 Constitution
This August, Interior Minister Abdelouafi Laftit began consultations with political parties ahead of the 2026 legislative elections, following royal directives from the Throne Speech on July 29. In his address, King Mohammed VI stressed the need to hold elections on their constitutional date and to adopt a specific Electoral Code for the House of Representatives before the end of the year. Yet, among parties represented in Parliament, the issue of political participation for Moroccans living abroad (MRE) rarely makes it onto the agenda. Even before these consultations began, Laftit reminded the House of Councillors that Moroccans abroad enjoy the same rights as citizens living in the country. As he had in 2024, he underlined that the current electoral system gives MREs «the right to register on the general electoral rolls, as well as the right to vote and run for all elections held on national soil». He added that legislators had «expanded the possibilities for registration on the general electoral lists», including direct voting in Moroccan polling stations or voting by proxy from their country of residence. To boost MRE representation in the House of Representatives in 2021, political parties were required to place a candidate residing abroad at the top of at least one regional list, or risk losing public funding. The minister reiterated that the government remains «open to any constructive proposal aimed at strengthening the electoral participation of MRE, in compliance with the framework established by the Constitution». However, members of Moroccan civil society abroad say the issue remains unresolved. Salem Fkire, founding president of the Cap Sud MRE association, told Yabiladi that the project has stalled despite repeated appeals to political parties. Following the adoption of the 2011 Constitution, the NGO signed agreements with four major parties, the PPS, the PJD, the PAM, and Istiqlal, two from the governing majority and two from the opposition. A decade later, in March 2021, a bill tabled by Istiqlal for the direct political participation of MREs was rejected in Parliament, just months before the September 8 elections that year. Proposals left unanswered Cap Sud MRE's main proposal, agreed upon with the signatory parties, sought to implement Articles 16, 17, 18, and 163 of the Constitution. It called for creating a dedicated MRE college within the House of Councillors, or establishing a new constituency represented across five continents, with seats proportional to the number of MREs in each region. During the 2021 elections and up until 2025, neither option has been implemented or placed on the public debate agenda. «It would be a shame if the issue of electoral participation and the creation of constituencies became a bargaining chip in political negotiations, which would explain these years of rejection», said Fkire. «Beyond the political stakes our participation represents, it is also an essential issue for maintaining ties between the third and fourth generations and the mother nation». According to Fkire, «the question today is whether political parties in Parliament, as well as the government, will allow the creation of constituencies abroad, just as Senegal, France, and Italy do for their citizens, proportionally to the size of the community abroad». Cap Sud MRE maintains that «the representativeness of constituencies for Moroccans abroad is a legislative and political mechanism best suited to addressing our issues as MREs, especially since His Majesty has given his directives for full and complete participation». «It's not about making this change at the expense of local representation in national constituencies, but rather about adding around 15% more parliamentary seats to allow Moroccans worldwide to sit alongside other elected officials, participate in parliamentary committees, and join constitutional institutions», he added. Calls for political will Frustration is also mounting among those who have participated in politics in their countries of residence but remain excluded in Morocco. Former socialist deputy in the Catalan Parliament (PCS) and the Spanish Congress (PSOE), Mohamed Chaïb Akhdim, the first Moroccan-origin MP in Spain — is now president of the Ibn Battuta Foundation in Barcelona. «The question of political participation of MRE and their representation through elections must be addressed to the government. We need to know what the head of the executive, the ministers, but also other political parties and elected officials think», Chaïb told Yabiladi. «Having chaired the citizenship and political participation commission at the Council of the Moroccan Community Abroad (CCME), I remember the numerous documents we produced on MRE participation in elections and their access to institutions. It remains to be seen whether the government truly wants MRE to actively participate in the electoral process or not». Chaïb questioned what has been done with these documents, stressing the need to align with the King's directives. He also expressed «incomprehension about the motivations behind spreading the idea, especially as each election approaches, that Morocco is not yet ready for the participation of its citizens abroad». In his view, «the best mechanism of representation for MRE would be to hold elections through the consulates, as other countries do in consular constituencies abroad, including Spain». This, he argued, would ensure that many of the issues facing Moroccans abroad are better represented and addressed. «It's an interesting option to consider, provided there is genuine political will to involve citizens worldwide in the process, whether in government, the majority, or the opposition». «Our various Moroccan consulates abroad are very well placed to ensure the smooth running of such operations. The logistical resources are available, and our human resources in these representations are among the most qualified to ensure this mobilization», he added. For Chaïb, creating constituencies for Moroccans abroad would be «a powerful tool for raising political awareness about issues related to their country of origin, starting with the national cause, which deserves to be championed by a significant political force through elected representatives and institutions». From constitutional principle to legal action University professor and migration researcher Abdelkrim Belguendouz argues that since the 2011 Constitution, the political participation of MREs through electoral representation «remains entirely open». «When it is proposed that to run for office, one must apply in a constituency on national territory, this formula does not take into account the specificity of Moroccans worldwide», he told Yabiladi. «The constitutional principle lays foundations whose details must be defined in organic laws and framework laws, which have yet to address the subject», he said. «Voting by proxy has proven its limits in effectively including MREs in electoral processes. Reports from the National Human Rights Council (CNDH) show that recourse to this option remains extremely minimal». «The royal speech of August 20, 2022, provided guidance in favor of including MREs in political life; it remains to be seen whether legislation has since taken their specificities into account», Belguendouz added. «Not only has the government not responded to this royal appeal, but it also took until the speech of November 6, 2024, for the orientation to be reaffirmed. Even now, it still finds no echo among politicians and the relevant actors». «With the latest Throne Day speech, we can only welcome the start of consultations with political parties for election preparations. This time, the arguments of anti-participation advocates, citing time constraints, logistical hurdles, and human resources, to postpone the MRE question are no longer acceptable», he concluded, stressing that the ball is now in the political parties' court.
