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RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 18 CASABLANCA 000042 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE ALSO FOR G/TIP, INL, DRL, NEA/MAG, NEA/RA, IWI, PRM, 
AND G 
 
STATE PLEASE PASS USAID AND USTR 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: KCRM PHUM KWMN SMIG KFRD ASEC PREF ELAB MO
SUBJECT: MOROCCO: ANNUAL TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS REPORT 
 
REFS:  (A) 06 STATE 00202745 
 
¶1. (U) Sensitive but unclassified.  Please protect 
accordingly. 
 
¶2. (U) This cable responds to action request (ref A) for 
updated information on the Moroccan government's efforts to 
combat trafficking in persons from April 2006 to March 
¶2007. 
 
--------------------------------- 
Morocco Remains on the Right Path 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Over the past year, the GOM continued to 
prioritize its law enforcement activities intended to 
investigate, prosecute, and deter what the GOM describes as 
"human-trafficking rings."  Over the past year Morocco 
continued its strategy to fight trafficking based on five 
major pillars: security measures, legislation, the creation 
of institutions specializing in fighting illegal migration, 
international cooperation, and public awareness campaigns. 
It should be underlined, however, that the GOM makes no 
distinction between migrant smuggling and human 
trafficking.  The GOM understands both activities as 
illegal and exploitative, which often result in the abuse 
and even the demise of Moroccans and third country 
nationals who seek to emigrate clandestinely.  With 
apparent GOM encouragement, Moroccan civil society was 
increasingly and visibly active on TIP issues. 
 
¶4.  (U) Morocco's geographic position as a natural conduit 
for sub-Saharan trafficking continues to be addressed by 
Morocco and the European Union (EU).  Despite efforts made 
by both Spain and Morocco to stem trafficking and illegal 
migration in the past few years, the problem persists. 
Throughout the year, the two countries reaffirmed their 
commitment to stemming the flow of illegal migrants across 
the border in the north, as well as in the waterways 
between Morocco and the Canary Islands. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Moroccan officials continued to assert that the 
Polisario orchestrated the illicit transfer of migrants 
through the Western Sahara and northern Mauritania to the 
Canary Islands.  UN officials in the Western Sahara, 
however, claimed they saw no evidence of Polisario 
involvement in migrant smuggling in any organized or 
sanctioned way. 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Morocco continues to work closely with the 
Spanish Government on resolving the issue of the 4500-6000 
Moroccan minors living illegally in Spain.  The Spanish 
 
CASABLANCA 00000042  002 OF 018 
 
 
Government will not repatriate minors until they are sure 
the young Moroccans have a safe and healthy environment 
available in Morocco.  In 2006 Spain pledged funds for two 
rehabilitation centers, one in the Tangier area and one in 
Marrakech.  The facilities, which will assist in the 
minors' reinsertion into Moroccan society, will be shelters 
where the children can receive counseling, health care, 
remedial education, and job training before being reunited 
with their families or placed in regular schools. 
 
¶7.  (U) Overview of Morocco's activities to combat 
trafficking in persons and migrant smuggling. 
 
--A. Morocco is a country of origin and destination for 
domestic trafficking, generally involving young rural girls 
recruited to work as child maids in urban areas. It is also 
a popular country of transit for internationally trafficked 
men, women, and children.  It is a country of origin for 
men, women, and minors trafficked to European countries and 
to a lesser extent the Middle East.  According to the 
Government of Morocco, international organizations, and 
numerous nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), the number 
of Moroccan minors being trafficked and smuggled into 
Spain, Italy, and other European countries, increased in 
¶2006. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) is 
working with the governments of Morocco and Italy, and 
Moroccan NGOs to develop a plan of action to stop the 
trafficking of minors.  The first phase of this cooperative 
plan will be a survey to measure the magnitude of the 
problem.  In addition, the survey will identify the most 
vulnerable persons, pinpoint the regions from which persons 
are trafficked, and propose the most effective methods of 
prevention. 
 
According to a spokesman from the Ministry of the Interior 
(MOI), the number of illegal migration attempts from 
Morocco to Europe plummeted by 62 percent in 2006. He also 
claimed that Morocco successfully and humanely repatriated 
over 7100 sub-Saharan migrants.  The MOI also claimed that 
more then 350 trafficking networks were dismantled in 2006. 
 
--B. Domestic trafficking in Morocco has historically 
involved three vulnerable groups as victims: (a) girls sent 
involuntarily to serve as child maids, (b) girls offered as 
child brides, and (c) women forced to perform sexual 
services.  There have been several instances where Moroccan 
women were unknowingly trafficked to Saudi Arabia, the UAE, 
Cyprus, and Syria to become sex workers after being 
promised jobs as domestics.  It appears that the majority 
of the girls and young women pressed into domestic 
servitude and sexual tourism are from isolated rural 
villages in the Middle and High Atlas Mountains.  Human 
 
CASABLANCA 00000042  003 OF 018 
 
 
rights advocates charge that "intermediaries" approach poor 
parents promising that their daughters will have a chance 
at a better life as child brides or child maids. 
 
Sub-Saharan Africans transiting Morocco, destined for 
Europe, also fall victim to traffickers.  According to Dr. 
Javier Gabaldon, the General and Medical Coordinator for 
the Moroccan office of Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), the 
majority of female clandestine sub-Saharan migrants with 
whom he came into contact while providing medical care and 
humanitarian assistance, were pressured into prostitution 
and involuntary servitude to pay for food and shelter by 
their "handlers," whether Nigerian, Moroccan, Algerian, or 
Spanish. These claims were reinforced by officials at UNHCR 
in Rabat who worked directly with refugees and asylum 
seekers from sub-Saharan countries. 
 
As a country of origin Morocco's rural and urban poor are a 
ready pool for traffickers and migrant smugglers, who 
promise a better life to their recruits.  Thus, most 
internal trafficking of persons occurs in Morocco from 
rural poor areas to the cities.  According to UNICEF and 
local NGO social welfare advocates, traffickers or 
"intermediaries" habitually visit isolated rural villages 
in the Atlas Mountains where they persuade desperate 
parents that their daughters would be better off as child 
brides or child maids.  Similarly, these intermediaries 
serve as the go-between to find employment for adolescent 
boys.  In rare instances, these youngsters and teenagers 
have ended up as sex workers in popular Moroccan tourist 
destinations, namely Marrakech, Agadir, and Fez. 
 
Political will exists at the highest levels of government 
to combat trafficking in persons.  Morocco recognizes its 
problems with trafficking as a transit country and country 
of origin.  The GOM has asked both the U.S. and the EU for 
assistance with border challenges and repatriation issues. 
Morocco continues to participate in regional and 
international conferences focusing on how to counter 
trafficking and human smuggling. Morocco fully supports 
civil society's efforts to fight human trafficking and 
smuggling. 
 
--C. Foreign economic migrants have increasingly sought to 
enter Europe through the Spanish enclaves of Ceuta and 
Melilla or cross from Laayoune (Western Sahara) or Tan-Tan 
to the Canary Islands.  In 2005 and 2006, however, there 
was a shift in the preferred path of migration through the 
Western Sahara to further south towards Mauritania.  While 
most of the migrants come from sub-Saharan Africa, it is 
becoming increasingly common to find Asians from India, 
Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan attempting the journey. 
 
CASABLANCA 00000042  004.2 OF 018 
 
 
According to official Moroccan press, more than 300 illegal 
Asian migrants were arrested in the first nine months of 
¶2006.   The GOM and several local and international NGOs 
estimated that approximately 10,000 illegal sub-Saharan 
clandestine migrants were in Morocco awaiting an 
opportunity to slip into European territory. There has also 
been speculation that another 20,000 are poised at the 
Algerian boarder waiting to enter Morocco. 
 
While the GOM continues its efforts to fight trafficking, 
the cost is a hardship.  The GOM has continuously requested 
help from the EU and individual countries.  In August, the 
EU announced a USD 86 million grant to help implement a 
migration emergency program.  The project will strengthen 
Morocco's ability to manage the migration flow, fight 
illegal migration, reinforce border control, improve 
Morocco's legal framework, boost border security and 
enhance criminal investigation capacities. 
 
Incidents of migrant smuggling, which is rampant in 
Morocco, are most often treated as trafficking in persons. 
Thus, the proportion of these persons being trafficked 
remains open to question since GOM figures do not 
differentiate among those who are trafficked from the vast 
majority who are voluntary economic migrants. 
 
The number of Moroccan women compelled to perform sexual 
services remains difficult to determine as this sort of 
activity is culturally unacceptable and is not exclusive to 
large urban centers where NGOs are more active in 
monitoring and confronting such problems.  Many of these 
women initially resort to prostitution because of dire 
economic circumstances and it remains difficult to 
differentiate between those who have been forced or coerced 
by others into such behavior and those who have voluntarily 
opted for prostitution as a means of economic support. 
 
Morocco is generally not a destination for trafficked 
victims from outside the country.  However, according to 
senior GOM officials and local NGO leaders, numerous 
destitute female Nigerian migrants found living illegally 
in northeastern Morocco were forced to prostitute 
themselves in return for protection, food, and shelter. 
 
¶8. (U) Prevention efforts. 
 
--A. The government acknowledges that trafficking and 
migrant smuggling are problems. The GOM does not 
differentiate between illegal migration and trafficking. 
 
--B. In November 2003, in response to a royal edict issued 
by King Mohamed VI, the GOM established an overarching 
 
CASABLANCA 00000042  005 OF 018 
 
 
agency for migration matters, the National Agency for 
Migration and Border Surveillance.  This agency reports to 
both the Palace and the MOI.  Within the MOI, the Director 
General of Internal Affairs, Director of International 
Cooperation, and Chief of Immigration are responsible for 
directing policy.  Within the Office of the Prime Minister, 
there is a secretariat for migration matters.  Other 
responsible parties include the police, gendarmes, and 
border patrol of the MOI, the Ministry of Defense (the army 
and navy), the Ministry of Social Development, Family, and 
Solidarity, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of 
National Education, the Delegated Ministry in charge of 
Moroccans Living Abroad, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs 
Consular and Social Affairs Office, and the Customs 
Service. 
 
On a routine basis, officials of the Labor Department, 
which has an Office of Children's Affairs dedicated to 
reducing child labor, meet with ILO-IPEC and UNICEF 
representatives to harmonize policy and establish programs 
designed to combat child labor and the exploitation of 
children, notably those working as child maids or junior 
artisans. 
 
--C.  In January, the GOM, working closely with local and 
international NGOs, initiated a public awareness campaign 
to educate Moroccans about the evils of employing child 
maids.  The campaign is the first part of the GOM's new 
Plan of Action to fight child labor and domestic 
trafficking of children. The program, Inqad, is aimed at 
ending the culture of employing child maids through 
education.  The awareness campaign uses TV, radio, 
brochures, and the national press to spread the message. 
 
--D.  The second part of the Plan of Action, child 
protection units, began last year.  Five pilot units, in 
Casablanca, Fes, Marrakech, Tangier, and Laayoune offered 
street children counseling, legal guidance, psychological 
support, and promoted children's rights. 
 
In conjunction with USDOL, ILAB-IPEC, UNICEF, and the 
governments of various EU countries, Morocco has a number 
of programs underway designed to keep and/or return 
children to school.  These include the USDOL-funded "ADROS" 
program aiding underage children in the labor market and a 
USDOL ILO-IPEC program benefiting rural working children. 
 
In addition to the campaigns listed above, the IOM 
currently has several projects underway and in the planning 
stages.  The IOM has nearly completed a social and 
educational center in Tetouan aimed at children, the 
population's most vulnerable to trafficking.  IOM is also 
 
CASABLANCA 00000042  006 OF 018 
 
 
currently developing a plan to assist and educate children 
and minors at-risk of being trafficked or lured into 
clandestine migration.  The IOM, GOM, and the government of 
Italy began development on a similar joint project in 
central Morocco in 2006. 
 
--E.  The GOM relies heavily on NGOs, other relevant 
organizations, and civil society to address the issue of 
trafficking.  The GOM has established excellent relations 
with these organizations. 
 
--F.  The GOM does not differentiate between trafficking 
and illegal migration; therefore, it does not monitor for 
evidence of trafficking specifically.  Morocco has 
noticeably increased the number of domestic security forces 
on its northeast border with Algeria and along its far 
southwest Atlantic border, including the disputed Western 
Sahara territory, facing the Canary Islands to interdict 
trafficking and migrant smuggling.  It has also stepped up 
enforcement in Tangier and at airports, train stations, and 
shipping ports.  The GOM has a substantial and well- 
organized immigration, customs, and security apparatus that 
closely monitors the country's borders.  Border patrol 
officers routinely find clandestine migrants hidden in 
trucks and freighters destined for Spain.  In August 2006, 
police in the Spanish enclave of Ceuta in northern Morocco 
arrested nearly 400 Moroccan would be migrants hidden 
inside fairground rides destined for mainland Spain. 
 
Unfortunately, a rugged northern coastline, which is 
difficult to patrol, and the close proximity to Europe over 
the narrow Strait of Gibraltar, make it possible for small 
boats to transport illegal migrants to Spain without 
detection.  Last year, there were more reports of 
traffickers and smugglers using powerful jet skis to move 
people from Moroccan territory to the beaches of Ceuta. 
Moroccan authorities also cite difficulty in monitoring the 
long border with Algeria, over which clandestine sub- 
Saharan migrants transit into Morocco, especially as the 
GOM claims Algerian authorities make little effort to stem 
the flow of migrants or to cooperate. 
 
--G. The GOM established two interagency coordinating 
bodies, the "National Observatory of Migration," which 
serves as an "anti-trafficking in persons task force" 
authorized to formulate policy, and the "National Agency 
for Migration and Border Surveillance," which conducts 
investigations and make arrests. 
 
The Office of the Prime Minister's Secretariat for 
Immigration Affairs serves as the coordinating office for 
agencies concerned with migration and illegal immigration. 
 
CASABLANCA 00000042  007 OF 018 
 
 
Anti-trafficking activities are primarily carried out by 
the Interior Ministry, although it involves different 
entities falling under it: clandestine immigration is the 
purview of immigration officials; prostitution falls under 
the police; while child brides are under the purview of 
local authorities who ultimately report to the Interior 
Ministry.  Three departments are chiefly responsible for 
child labor issues: the Ministry of Employment and 
Professional Training, the Secretariat for Families, 
Children, and the Handicapped, and the Ministry of National 
Education, specifically its Department of Non-Formal 
Education, which tries to provide remedial education and 
job training to child maids and "apprentice artisans." 
Prosecution of individuals charged with trafficking or 
violation of labor laws falls to the MOJ. 
 
Over the past five years, the GOM has drawn closer to Spain 
and the EU in the common fight against migrant smuggling 
and trafficking in persons.  Morocco engages in bilateral 
efforts with Spain, such as joint naval patrols begun in 
mid-February 2004.  Morocco has continued to work closely 
with other governments as well.  It is a member of working 
groups on immigration with both the EU and its fellow 
Maghreb countries.  Internationally, the government 
participates actively in U.N.-sponsored activities relating 
to trafficking.  In July 2007, Morocco hosted the first 
European-African Ministerial Conference on Migration.  The 
conference hosted ministers from 44 countries and over a 
dozen international organizations and developed a unified 
Mission Statement and Plan of Action for the region. 
 
--H. In 2003, the GOM completed its national action plan to 
combat trafficking in persons.  The following were and 
continue to be involved in developing anti-trafficking 
policies and programs: MFA Delegated Ministry in charge of 
Moroccans Living Abroad, Office of the Chief of Migration 
and Immigration Affairs, Office of the Prime Minister, 
Office of the Director of International Cooperation, 
Ministry of Interior, Chief of Immigration, Ministry of 
Interior. 
 
¶9.  (U)  Investigation and Prosecution of Traffickers 
 
--A. On November 20, 2003, Morocco's new Immigration and 
Emigration Act 02-03, entitled "Entry and Stay of 
Foreigners in the Kingdom of Morocco, Illegal Emigration 
and Immigration," was published in the Official Bulletin. 
Under Title II, Articles 50-56, the law prohibits 
trafficking in persons and sets specific punishments.  It 
severely punishes people involved in migrant smuggling and 
human trafficking, including public officials who take a 
hear-no-evil and see-no-evil approach to violations of 
 
CASABLANCA 00000042  008 OF 018 
 
 
Moroccan immigration law.  Title II makes it abundantly 
clear that all individuals and their accomplices involved 
in human trafficking face high fines and prison sentences. 
Asset forfeiture is also established, and the courts are 
given extra-territorial judicial powers to rule on 
violations of Moroccan law, which take place outside 
Morocco.  For the first time, Moroccan immigration law 
holds public officials accountable.  The act criminalizes 
acts not only carried out by the operatives, but also by 
those who provide safe haven to smuggled persons and 
punishes security officers who fail to carry out their 
duties.  The law is especially harsh on public officials 
who are caught promoting illegal emigration and/or 
migration. 
 
Article 50 stipulates a fine of 3,000 to 10,000 dirhams 
(ten dirhams equals roughly one USD) and/or one to six 
months imprisonment, aside from any punishments under the 
Penal Code, be assessed against any person attempting to 
enter and/or exit Moroccan territory by land, sea, or air 
by presenting a fraudulent travel document(s) or by 
traveling under an assumed name or by using falsified 
documents.  It also prohibits attempted entry/departure 
from points other than recognized border crossings and 
designated points of departure. 
 
Article 51 provides that a prison sentence of two to five 
years and a fine of 50,000 to 500,000 dirhams be levied 
against any public official (whether in charge of or a 
member of the "public forces"), travel agent, or 
transportation personnel operating carriers by land, water, 
and/or air who attempts to facilitate the illegal entry or 
exit of a person. 
 
Article 52 dictates a prison sentence of six months to 
three years and a fine of 50,000 to 500,000 dirhams shall 
be assessed against anyone found to have facilitated, 
organized, or participated in the illegal entry or exit of 
Moroccans and/or foreign nationals in a manner detailed in 
Articles 50-51 and whether or not payment was made for 
his/her services. 
 
Article 52 also specifies increased penalties of 10 to 15 
years in prison and a fine of 500,000 to 1,000,000 dirhams 
be levied against individuals who are repeat offenders and 
are discovered to have been habitually involved in human 
smuggling. 
 
Penalties of 10 to 15 years imprisonment and fines of 
500,000 to 1,000,000 dirhams are to be assessed against 
individual members of any association or cartel created for 
the express purpose of migrant smuggling.  Leaders of these 
 
CASABLANCA 00000042  009 OF 018 
 
 
associations are also subject to the penalties prescribed 
in Article 294, Paragraph 2, of the Penal Code. 
 
Moreover, Article 52 inflicts even greater punishments of 
15 to 20 years in prison should the would-be emigrant or 
immigrant suffer serious injury and "permanent incapacity" 
is the result.  If the migrant is killed while being 
transported, the trafficker is subject to life 
imprisonment. 
 
Should convictions be handed down, Article 53 grants the 
courts the right to confiscate the means of transport, 
whether public, private, or rental, used to commit 
violations of the law.  Transportation assets of 
trafficking ring members and their accomplices may also be 
seized, whether or not they participated in the operation. 
 
Article 54 orders that a fine of 10,000 to 1,000,000 
dirhams be assessed against any corporate entity found 
guilty of immigration infractions as specified above. 
Corporate entities are also subject to confiscation orders. 
 
Article 55 requires that judgments be made public in three 
daily newspapers, which cover the jurisdiction where the 
case was heard. 
 
Finally, Article 56 establishes that the Moroccan courts 
may hear cases brought against foreigners accused of 
violating Moroccan immigration law.  The courts are given 
extra-territorial jurisdiction in Article 56, which says 
they may rule on infractions of Moroccan law, which occur 
outside Morocco's borders and are committed by non- 
Moroccans. 
 
--B. Penalties under articles 497-504 and 540-549 for 
traffickers deceiving, defrauding, or coercing individuals 
are from six months to five years' imprisonment and fines 
of 200 dirhams (USD 23) to 5000 dirhams (USD 590), 
depending upon whether minors have been corrupted. 
 
 
--C. Morocco does not have a law specifically forbidding 
labor trafficking.  Moroccan law, however, does forbid 
clandestine labor.  The offense carries a fine of between 
2000-5000 dirhams (USD 230-590). In the case of employing 
children under 15 years of age, the fine is increased to 
25,000-30,000 dirhams (USD 2960-3555).  The Moroccan penal 
code  imposes a fine of 5000-20,000 dirhams (USD 590-2370), 
and between one and three years prison sentence for anyone 
convicted of facilitating or encouraging forced child 
labor.  Forced labor is defined by the penal code as any 
illegal work or any work harmful to a child's health, 
 
CASABLANCA 00000042  010 OF 018 
 
 
security or morals.  Post does not have statistics for 
forced labor prosecutions in Morocco. 
 
--D. The penalty for rape or forcible sexual assault is 
dependent upon the involvement of minors and whether the 
act was deemed violent.  Rape offenders can be imprisoned 
for 5-10 years (article 486).  Sexual offenses against 
minors, not involving violence (i.e., intercourse not 
deemed rape), are punishable by five to ten years' 
imprisonment (article 484).  Perpetrators of similar acts 
with violence (rape) face 10-20 years in prison (article 
485); if this results in victim's loss of virginity, the 
offender faces 20-30 years' in jail (article 488).  Actual 
sentences handed down may be less or more severe depending 
on whether it is a first offense or attenuating 
circumstances existed. 
 
--E. While prostitution and solicitation of prostitutes is 
illegal, local law enforcement often casts a blind eye to 
the problem.  Prostitution is commonplace in large cites 
like Casablanca, Marrakech, Fez, and Agadir, but also poses 
a problem in smaller cities and in rural areas as well. 
The government has prosecuted cases against individuals who 
coerced or forced women into performing sexual services. 
 
--F. According to MOI reports, the government claims to 
have broken up more than 350 trafficking/smuggling rings in 
¶2006.  Of the rings dismantled, 51 cases involving 156 
persons were prosecuted for participating, financing or 
facilitating illegal entry into or exit out of Morocco of 
both Moroccans and foreigners.  Of the above mentioned 
cases, 23 decisions were rendered, 14 are currently under 
investigation, and another 14 are presently being tried. 
Sentences handed down on the convictions range from two 
months to 12 years imprisonment in addition to fines 
ranging from 2000-500,000 dirhams (USD 230-59,260). 
 
--G. Various types of individuals and groups are behind 
migrant smuggling and human trafficking in Morocco: 
organized criminal gangs are responsible for coordinating 
some of the clandestine migration to Europe, particularly 
the sub-Saharans transiting Morocco; "intermediaries" who 
for a fee work as professional placement agents for the 
parents of potential child brides, child maids, and 
apprentice artisans trafficked domestically; parents of 
rural girls who act as their own "brokers" for farming out 
their children as child brides or maids; and financially 
motivated criminals who coerce young women into 
prostitution.  Some Moroccan authorities acting 
independently, such as border officials or local police, 
may also turn a blind eye, in exchange for money, to 
facilitate trafficking. 
 
CASABLANCA 00000042  011 OF 018 
 
 
 
Most trafficking rings in Morocco are small criminal 
groups, although the GOM refers to them as "trafficking 
mafias."   Many of the 350 trafficking rings discovered in 
2006 were freelancers or rings working with a handful of 
people.  While the majority of traffickers apprehended were 
Moroccan, new international networks are appearing with 
more frequency.  In September, authorities arrested a 
trafficker with connections to Libya.  He confessed to 
flying illegal Moroccan immigrants to the Libyan desert and 
then abandoning them before calling local authorities. In 
November, the Association of Families of Victims of 
Clandestine Immigrants, an active and respected Moroccan 
NGO, claimed that since the GOM has cracked down on illegal 
migration along the Mediterranean and Atlantic coasts, 
Moroccans are increasingly attempting to migrate to Europe 
across North Africa and into Italy.  The group also 
asserted that Libyan authorities are capturing, jailing, 
torturing, and sentencing Moroccan migrants to forced 
labor. 
 
In tourist towns, there are unofficial reports that hotel 
personnel arrange to transport girls and young women from 
rural areas to cities to work as prostitutes. 
Additionally, there is anecdotal evidence that bartenders 
and taxi drivers act as "pimps" and arrange to bring the 
rural women to the larger tourist cities and arrange work 
for them.  There is no evidence that GOM officials are 
involved in any way. 
 
In addition, the MOI voiced concern this year that there 
may be growing connections between international terrorist 
groups, organized crime, money laundering rings, and human 
trafficking networks in Morocco. 
 
--H. Security forces are actively engaged in investigating, 
pursuing, and dismantling human trafficking and smuggling 
rings.  The government claims more than 350 rings were 
discovered and disbanded in 2006.  While the majority of 
these operations concerned only migrant smuggling, the GOM 
learned during these investigations that some expeditors 
had pressured sub-Saharan African women to prostitute 
themselves in order to receive food and shelter while 
others were involved in false job recruitment schemes in 
Spain, Italy, Cyprus, the Gulf States, and Saudi Arabia. 
 
--I.  Law enforcement officers often participate in 
training and seminars that cover trafficking when these 
programs are offered by other countries.  Training has been 
given by the France, Germany, Spain, and Saudi Arabia, 
according to MOI officials.  This year, UNHCR agreed to 
work with the GOM to train law enforcement officials on the 
 
CASABLANCA 00000042  012 OF 018 
 
 
internationally accepted manner of dealing with potential 
refugees and asylum seekers.  The project will be multi- 
phased with the second phase of the training to include a 
module on identifying trafficked persons. 
 
--J. Morocco is party to several bilateral and multilateral 
conventions on judicial cooperation and extradition of 
criminals with European, Arab, Asian, and African 
countries, as well as the United States.  Last year, 
according to the MOJ, Morocco worked closely with Italian 
authorities concerning illegal migration of Moroccan minors 
to Italy.  The investigation resulted in information that 
assisted in the dismantling of criminal networks that 
specialized in illegal migration of children and their 
exploitation as "mules" for drug traffickers.  Statistics 
on the number of international investigations are not 
currently available. 
 
--K.  The GOM has not extradited individuals charged with 
trafficking, although government officials note that 
Morocco does have bilateral extradition treaties with 
relevant countries.  Morocco does not extradite its 
nationals in accordance with Article 721 of the Penal Code. 
 
--L. There is no evidence of national government 
involvement or tolerance for trafficking.  On a local level 
however, there are rumors that public servants acting on 
their own seek pay-offs or bribes to look the other way in 
some cases of migrant smuggling.  The government is 
attempting to crack down on corruption within the public 
sector.  In order to conform to the United Nations 
Convention Against Corruption which Morocco signed in 
December 2003, the GOM announced a new project aimed at 
creating an independent body to fight corruption. 
 
--M.  The GOM prosecutes to the full extent of the law its 
own officials, as it does other individuals, involved in 
trafficking.  In 2006, a judicial police officer, in the 
northern Moroccan town of Nador, was arrested and 
prosecuted for corruption and involvement in a local 
organized criminal activity facilitating illegal migration 
of Moroccans to Spain.  He received a four year prison 
sentence.  In the same region two other policemen were 
convicted and sentenced to 2 months suspended sentence and 
fines for forging administrative documents and encouraging 
illegal migration.  There is currently an ongoing 
investigation of two police officers in Casablanca charged 
with organizing a criminal gang to facilitate the illegal 
entry of foreigners into Morocco and assist in their exit 
from the country. 
 
--N. Revisions to the Penal Code enacted in December 2003 
 
CASABLANCA 00000042  013 OF 018 
 
 
provide for extraterritorial coverage in cases of child 
sexual abuse and child sex tourism.  According to Minister 
of Justice Mohamed Bouzoubaa, the number of sexual 
perversion and pedophilia cases between foreigners and 
Moroccan minors rose 26 percent in 2006.  Of the 
nationalities involved the MOJ cited, Spanish, German, 
Dutch, French, Belgian, Tunisian, Swiss and other 
nationalities.  The sentences of those convicted in 2006 
ranged from two months to three years imprisonment. 
Specific numbers of arrests and convictions were not 
available. 
 
--O. Morocco is a signatory to ILO Conventions 138 (adopted 
March 19, 1999; ratified January 6, 2000) and 182 (adopted 
November 24, 2000; ratified January 26, 2001).  These two 
ILO Conventions were published in the Official Bulletin on 
December 4, 2003.  They went into immediate effect. 
Morocco has adopted the UN International Convention on the 
Rights of the Child (ratified June 21, 1993).  Morocco 
signed the Sale of Children Protocol supplementing the 
Rights of the Child Convention in September 2000.  Moroccan 
law has been amended to comply with the UN Optional 
Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on 
the sale of children, child prostitution, and child 
pornography.  The Penal Code was revised in December 2003 
to incorporate these changes.  Morocco is a signatory to 
the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress, and Punish Trafficking 
in Persons, supplementing the U.N. Convention against 
Transnational Organized Crime. Morocco is a party (since 
May 1959) to the Geneva Conventions against slavery, ILO 
Conventions 29 and 105 (ratified May 1957 and December 1966 
respectively) against forced labor, and the 1949 UN 
Convention against trafficking in persons (ratified August 
1973).  In June 2003, Morocco ratified the International 
Convention on the Rights of Migrants and Their Families. 
 
¶10. (U)  Protection and assistance to victims. 
 
--A.  Morocco's Center for Migrant Rights provides 
counseling services, including an explanation of one's 
legal and civil rights, to migrants; however, legal 
representation is not offered, nor is shelter, medical or 
psychological services. The GOM relies on the NGO community 
to provide most services to victims of trafficking. 
 
Child maids who have fled abusive employers or women forced 
into prostitution that have fled the abusive situation, 
have been assisted by Moroccan authorities, specifically, 
the Secretary of State for Family, Solidarity, and Social 
Action.  The former Ministry of Women's and Children's 
Affairs developed a national strategy to combat violence 
against women which includes training for social workers to 
 
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deal with women and girls who are victims of violence. 
Victims of child labor and forced prostitution are often 
aided by local NGOs active in combating those problems. 
 
--B. The GOM provides modest funds to national NGO's 
offering shelter and services to victims of trafficking. 
In addition, it offers teachers and social workers to 
support national NGOs working with child maids.  At the 
Ministry of Labor, it provides offices to the International 
Labor Organization (ILO)'s International Program for the 
Elimination of Child Labor (IPEC), which is working on the 
child maid problem.  The GOM allows authorized NGO's to 
solicit tax-free donations from citizens, residents, and 
companies, indirectly assisting these non-profit elements 
of civil society to provide services to trafficking 
victims. 
 
--C. Those potential victims of trafficking who are 
detained, jailed, or deported, are usually third country 
nationals transiting Morocco en route to Europe. 
Thesedetainees are prosecuted for violation of immigration 
laws or deported.  The harsh international reaction to a 
December police roundup of illegal migrants, and UNHCR 
recognized refugees and asylum seekers prompted the GOM to 
accept the UNHCR offer of training of law enforcement 
individuals in the handling and identification of 
recognized refugees.  Morocco is a signatory of the 
Convention for Protection of Immigrants and Their Families. 
 
In 2003 Parliament changed the Penal Code so that runaway 
child maids may be administratively returned to their 
families instead of being arrested for vagrancy.  If 
returning them to their parents is not possible or 
feasible, they should be placed in separate youth centers, 
not mixed in with juvenile delinquents. 
 
--D.  Morocco's November 2003 Immigration and Emigration 
Act carefully defines the rights of illegal immigrants, 
economic migrants, and asylum seekers in Title II, Article 
¶38.  This article also pinpoints the prerogatives 
immigration officials have in protecting Morocco's borders. 
The statute (and the way the law is implemented) blurs the 
distinction between trafficked persons and economic 
migrants.  It sets forth limits to how long a non-Moroccan 
may be detained and under what conditions.  The law 
furthermore lists the rights which an intending immigrant, 
non-resident alien, casual visitor, or trafficked person is 
entitled.  In the past year, however, there have been 
reports by NGOs, such as MSF, IOM, and other organizations, 
that human rights of the non-Moroccan migrants were 
violated when Moroccan police transported numerous sub- 
Saharan illegal economic migrants, mixed with refugees, to 
 
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the Algerian border and left them in the desert with little 
or no food or water.  UNHCR reported claims that some of 
the sub-Saharans taken in the raid were abused and had 
their documents stolen or destroyed. 
 
--E. While victims are not encouraged to file civil suits 
against traffickers, they often testify on behalf of the 
GOM when it seeks to prosecute trafficking cases. 
 
--F.  We are unaware of any specific protections, other 
than laws forbidding the various forms of trafficking, that 
the government provides to victims of trafficking or 
witnesses in cases against traffickers. 
 
--G. Morocco offers some specialized training for 
government officials in how to deal with victims of 
trafficking.  The government trained diplomats in countries 
that are prime destination or transit countries, i.e., 
Spain and Italy, for Moroccan victims of trafficking. 
 
--H. Morocco is working with NGOs and the international 
community, specifically Spain, Italy and the IOM, to 
establish shelters and a system to assist minors who have 
been the victims of trafficking. 
 
--I. The most outspoken organization dedicated to the 
eradication of trafficking and migrant smuggling is the 
"Friends and Families of Clandestine Immigration Victims," 
headed by Khalil Jemmah.  In addition, several local NGOs 
focus on women's and children's issues and directly or 
indirectly work to mitigate the incidence and abuse of 
child brides, child maids and women forced into sexual 
services.  The work of these NGOs includes publicizing and 
monitoring the child maid problem; providing remedial 
education, vocational training, health care, and 
recreational opportunities to child maids; rehabilitating 
and educating street children, delinquents and runaways; 
assisting single mothers to become financially independent; 
educating youth and prostitutes (male and female) about the 
dangers of unprotected sex; and advocating women's and 
children's rights. 
 
--I. The following (alphabetical) list outlines those 
Moroccan NGOs best known for dealing with populations that 
include possible victims of trafficking.  Most of these 
organizations receive support and/or cooperation from the 
Moroccan government, in particular the Secretariat for 
Family, Solidarity, and Social Action: 
 
Association Bayti 
Dr. Najat M'jid 
Km. 12.5, Ancienne route de Rabat 
 
CASABLANCA 00000042  016 OF 018 
 
 
Sidi Bernoussi, Casablanca 
Tel: (212) 22-75-69-65/66 
Bayti focuses its work on street children, rehabilitating 
and educating runaways, child prostitutes, and indigents. 
 
Centre Lalla Meriam 
Mrs. Benaich 
2, Rue Souktani 
Rabat 
Tel: (212) 37-20-13-93 and (212) 37-73-03-02 
This center works with single mothers, many of them child 
maids, and abandoned babies. 
 
Ikram 
Mrs. Bennani 
Tel: (212) 22-36-60-98 
Ikram runs a program for young women in the 15-16 year old 
range to train them to become "certified" domestic servants 
and child-care workers. 
 
La Ligue Marocaine de la Protection de l'Enfance (LMPE) 
Mrs. Fatima Hassar, Presidente centrale 
Ave Akrach/Rue Mellouza, Nahda II, 
Quartier Haut Souissi, Rabat 
Rabat 
Tel: (212) 37-75-03-10 
LMPE (the Moroccan League for the Protection of Infancy or 
the Children's Protection League) was founded in 1957 with 
a focus on helping abandoned or other vulnerable children. 
It conducted the first study of child maids in Morocco, 
released in November 1995.  LMPE operates day care centers, 
emergency medical centers, literacy training and clubs for 
poor children and their families.  It is also one of the 
NGOs participating in the child maids project in 
Casablanca. 
 
Institut Natl. de Solidarite avec les Femmes en D?tresse 
(INSAF) 
Mrs. Meriem Othmani, President 
20 bis, rue de Peronne 
Casablanca 
Tel: (212) 22-40-12-22 
INSAF (National Institute for Solidarity with Women in 
Distress), established November 1999, is the successor to a 
local affiliate of Swiss-based Terre des Hommes.  It 
assists single mothers by providing a shelter and several 
"halfway homes" (apartments) in Casablanca.  It also helps 
them become more independent through education and 
training, while caring for their infants and children in 
day care centers.  It will be expanding its activities to 
target child maids specifically for sex education, as this 
population constitutes a significant number of rape victims 
 
CASABLANCA 00000042  017 OF 018 
 
 
and unwed mothers. 
 
Observatoire Nationale des Droits de l'Enfant (ONDE) 
Dr. El Malki Tazi, President 
B.P. 511, Rabat Chellah 
Rabat 
Tel. (212) 37-75-50-99, fax 37-75-53-43 
ONDE (the National Observatory for Children's Rights) 
operates a child abuse hotline (24/7), has organized 
children's rights publicity campaigns with support from 
UNICEF, and has a "one village-one well" campaign to reduce 
the labor burden on children and families of fetching 
water. 
 
Solidarite Feminine 
Mrs. Aicha Echanna 
10, Rue Mingard 
Palmier, Casablanca 
Tel: (212) 22-25-46-46 
This large NGO is an advocate of women's rights, but its 
director has worked on rehabilitating prostitutes and 
spearheaded an effort to publicize the plight of child 
maids. 
 
-------- 
TIP Hero 
-------- 
 
¶11. (U) Post would like to nominate Secretary of State for 
Families, Children, and the Handicapped, Yasmina Baddou, as 
Morocco's Anti-Trafficking Hero.  Baddou has been and 
continues to be an indefatigable advocate for children's 
rights.  Her fight to rescue child laborers and child maids 
in particular in Morocco helped bring the once taboo 
subject to light.  Baddou spearheaded Morocco's new Plan of 
Action to fight child labor and insure that all of the 
country's children are afforded the opportunity to have a 
safe and healthy childhood, attend school, and be protected 
against forced labor.  The Plan of Action, launched this 
year, began with an awareness campaign to sensitize the 
general population of the dangers of this once widely 
accepted practice of employing child maids.  Other parts of 
the program include the development of child protection and 
rescue units throughout the country, and emergency action 
teams to assist street children at risk.  Baddou has 
managed to insure commitments to the Plan of Action from 
numerous ministries and secretariats, in addition to NGOs 
and various civil society members. 
 
¶12.  (U) Sources for this report include officials in the 
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Employment, 
Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Justice.  Other 
 
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sources included NGOs, international organizations and 
other child welfare advocates; researchers; Ministry of 
Justice publications; press reports; and prior reporting. 
 
¶13. (U)  Mission POC on TIP issues is Amy M. Wilson, 
Labor/Political Officer, ConGen Casablanca, tel. 212-22-26- 
45-50, ext. 4151; fax 212-22-20-80-96; mail: PSC 74, Box 
24, APO, AE 09718; pouch: 6280 Casablanca Place, 
Washington, DC 20521-6280; e-mail: WilsonAM(at 
symbol)state.gov. 
 
¶14.  Embassy Rabat cleared this message. 
 
GREENE