As part of the training courses that the High Atlas Foundation provides in partnership with Cadi Ayyad University, the Faculty of Legal, Economic and Social Sciences, and the Legal Clinic Association for Studies and Research, and with the support of the National Endowment for Democracy, a training course was organized on July 21, 2022, on the subject of “migration and asylum” at the Faculty of Law’s annex under the supervision of Dr. Al-Habib Zain Al-Din Al-Satati who is a university professor.

This course aims to enhance the scientific and legal capacity of the students of the legal clinic concerning the issue of immigration and asylum on one hand and the principles of human rights on the other.

The professor acknowledged, first and as a general rule, that there should be a warning when it comes to immigration and asylum, so it was necessary to look at the issue of immigration and asylum from the perspective of international law and to highlight the legal points that were set by him to work to improve the conditions of immigrants or refugees. He also spoke about the extent of the availability of an international legal framework for the immigrant and refugee, as well as the international agreements that regulate the rights of these people within the borders of the host country, and the obligations arising therefrom.

It is clear that immigrants are people who leave their country willingly and of their own free will without any ethnic or religious pressure, to improve their living situation, or to develop skills that have not been exploited in their country of origin.

While refugees are considered every person outside of their country who cannot return because of fear of being persecuted, this is what Article 1 of the United Nations Refugee Convention of 1951 stipulates, meaning that fear is the essence of asylum in search of a sense of safety and peace.

Accordingly, the international treaties and conventions are numerous. All of them tried to protect the immigrants and refugees in any situation. As the professor indicated, the United Nations had counted at the end of May 2022 that there were approximately 10 million Ukrainian displaced people during the Russian-Ukrainian war.

The professor recorded a remarkable turnout for the students of the legal clinic for this course, noting their clear interest through their discussions and raising several ideas and questions that characterized the informative session.

At the same time, the evening training session defined the familiarity with the articles of Law 02.03 related to the entry and residence of foreigners in the Kingdom of Morocco and illegal immigration. As for the general provisions related to the residence of foreigners in the Kingdom of Morocco, where foreigners were defined and mentioned, the conditions and some procedures that must be adhered to include these:

– a passport and

– Residency bonds on Moroccan soil.

The National Strategy for Immigration and Asylum is the main reference for immigration and asylum issues in Morocco, having arisen from the royal speech of November 6, 2013 (on the occasion of the anniversary of the Green March), and the national policy offers new solutions to the strategic challenges of migration issues.

All in all, the training day was well received by the students of the legal clinic who attended, where they got a general idea about immigration and asylum. The meeting concluded with the idea of strengthening legal aid and providing legal advice to the local population in the Marrakech-Safi region on the issue of immigration and asylum and the most crucial problems they will encounter on their way to raising legal awareness.