UNHCR to sign cooperation agreement with the Government of Morocco

UNHCR very much appreciates the Government of Morocco's announcement on World Refugee Day (June 20) that it will sign a cooperation agreement (accord de siège) with us. This agreement will upgrade the status of the UNHCR office in Rabat to a full-fledged representation. UNHCR staff in Morocco will benefit from open channels of communication with all relevant governmental departments, central and local authorities, and partner organizations.

The imminent signature of the accord de siège is a clear expression of the expanding and deepening cooperation between the Moroccan authorities and UNHCR in the country. This cooperation is aimed at protecting refugees within broader migratory movements affecting the country, and at finding durable solutions for refugees, including voluntary return, self-reliance and targeted use of resettlement.

Morocco was the first country on the African continent to receive UNHCR staff in 1959 and to allow UNHCR to open an honorary delegation in 1965. At the moment, the UNHCR office in Rabat has registered some 600 refugees recognized under its mandate, whereas some 1,000 asylum applications are pending, mainly from nationals from sub-Saharan African countries.