Foreign affairs minister Tom Berendsen and justice minister David van Weel have arrived in Rabat for a two-day visit to Morocco to consolidate ties, focusing on asylum, crime and trade.
It is an indication of the importance of good relations between the Netherlands and Morocco that it should be the first non-EU nation to be visited, commentators said, particularly in view of the changing geopolitical situation and the pressure on Nato due to the war in the Middle East.
“The big world powers are using the language of power. We need many partners to cooperate with to be able to protect the things we think are important,” Berendsen told broadcaster NOS.
Berendsen said Morocco had become much more cooperative in taking back failed asylum seekers in the last three years. “The number of return documents issued by Morocco is rising steadily and hundreds of failed asylum seekers are now going back every year,” Berendsen said.
In May, the Netherlands will vote on an extradition treaty with Morocco to combat organised crime, although extraditions are already happening unofficially.
It will also become possible to seize assets stored in Morocco by criminals convicted in the Netherlands.
During the visit Berendsen will also reiterate the Dutch stance on the Western Sahara, which Morocco claims for itself but which has been fighting for independence since the 1990s. Morocco is willing to grant the Western Sahara a large measure of autonomy on the condition it becomes a recognised part of Morocco.
“The Netherlands feels the local population has a right to self-determination and that they can determine their own future. At the same time, we see that the plan that Morocco has proposed can lead to a solution,” Berendsen said.
The ministers will visit the port of Tanger on the last day of the visit. Tanger is expected to play a bigger role in worldwide shipping now that transport via the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea has all but halted.
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