Morocco, Netherlands ink new accords, fail to agree on dual nationality issue

2008-11-26

Although the Moroccan and Dutch foreign ministers signed agreements ranging from wire transfers to protocols for naming children, the citizenship question remains unresolved after their Rabat meeting.

By Sarah Touahri for Magharebia in Rabat – 26/11/08

[Sarah Touahri] Dutch Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen (left) discussed the dual nationality issue with his Moroccan counterpart Taieb Fassi Fihri in Rabat on November 24th.

Moroccan nationals living in the Netherlands have faced an uncertain future in recent months, following a July decision by the Dutch government to refuse dual nationality to immigrants from nations where permanent, legal citizenship is fixed at birth.

In the latest attempt to reach a solution, Dutch Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen met with his Moroccan counterpart Taieb Fassi Fihri in Rabat on Monday (November 24th) to discuss this and other issues facing both communities.

The talks were successful on several fronts.

Under an agreement signed Monday, immigrants will no longer be forced to select their children's names from an approved Moroccan list and money transfer procedures between the two countries will be completely liberalised.

The central question of nationality, however, remains unanswered.

"We did not reach agreement on that point," said Verhagen at a press conference. "I don't understand Morocco's arguments. Every citizen is free to choose whatever nationality they want."

Fassi Fihri explained that the constitution does not allow original Moroccan identity to be lost except under exceptional circumstances, and then only by decree.

"The law does not allow nationality to be renounced except following a ruling by a committee presided over by the prime minister," he said, "according to specific criteria based on respect for ancestral religious legitimacy and political and judicial legality."

"Moreover, integration into the host country does not under any circumstances mean that their Moroccan personality has disappeared," he concluded.

In fact, permission to renounce Moroccan identity has never been granted since independence.

Back in July, Dutch Ambassador Sjoerd Leenstra was called before the Moroccan justice and foreign ministries on July 7th to hear of the sovereign's "great astonishment" and "categorical rejection of any policy, whatever its origins, motivations or purposes, which would demand that Moroccan nationals living in the Netherlands renounce their original nationality".

The original decision was made by the Dutch government after a wave of anti-Moroccan sentiment swept the European nation following the 2004 assassination of film director Theo Van Gogh by a Moroccan Islamist.

During Monday's meeting, the two officials pledged their countries' desire to improve public perception on both sides of the debate. Maxime Verhagen said his government is determined to address the education and employment needs of Moroccan Dutch citizens.

The government will never forbid Dutch citizens of Moroccan origin from cherishing their roots, he said, but it will require them to submit to their obligations under Dutch law.

Fassi Fihri said he hopes Morocco can play an important role in raising awareness, particularly on religious matters, to prevent the sort of violent incidents that provoked the backlash. The minister suggested cultivating the "tolerant, open Islam which has developed in Morocco over fourteen centuries; and which can be a useful tool for this community in building mutual respect".

Since the announcement of the ban on dual nationality, the Moroccan community living in the Netherlands has expressed its disagreement and disapproval. The intercontinental platform for Moroccan expatriates, based in the Netherlands, brought a complaint before the European Commission against the Dutch State for discrimination against Dutch citizens of Moroccan origin. The chairman of the association, Jamal Eddine Ryane, has declared that Moroccan nationality comes from the sovereignty of an independent state – in this case Morocco – which is not a member of the EU.

For his part, Abdou Mnebhi, who chairs the Euro-Mediterranean Centre for Migration and Development in Amsterdam, has been working to calm the Moroccan community.

"The justice minister who brought the draft bill before Parliament was trying to silence certain voices, particularly right-wing MPs, who see any immigrant or citizen of another nationality, particularly from a Muslim country, as a hindrance to the country’s development and a source of concern," he said.

"I don’t believe the bill will complete its course through Parliament."

According to current estimates, there are 350,000 Moroccans, residents or naturalised, living in the Netherlands.