Moroccan Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nasser Bourita, says that “it is necessary to review the consular map of Morocco,” in order to bring services closer to the Moroccan community established abroad.
During an oral question and answer session in the House of Representatives, on January 24, regarding the improvement of consular services, he added that the goal is not to open more consulates, but rather “to review the consular map to accompany Moroccans around the world.”
The minister said that the kingdom has 56 consulates so far, with the opening of three consulates in Naples, Murcia, and Toronto respectively, in the last three years.
Bourita has mentioned the possibility of reviewing the consular offices in the suburbs of Paris, Galicia (Spain), northern Italy and in the Gulf countries and Africa in order to bring the consulates closer to Moroccans living abroad, adding that the improvement of the quality of consular services focuses on 4 areas, namely improving reception conditions, digitization and improving consular performance, services and social actions of proximity.
On the first axis, Bourita said it is the improvement of reception conditions, through the rapprochement of consulates to the MREs, by choosing suitable places housing their seats.
He noted that the Ministry has made great efforts to improve consular buildings, with the acquisition of six new buildings and the change of seats of consulates in nine centers namely, Algeciras, Barcelona, Marseille, Oran, Lille, Rennes, Madrid, Amsterdam, and Paris.
Regarding the second axis relating to the digitalization and promotion of consular performance, the Minister recalled the creation of the electronic site “Consulate.ma,” which has recorded nearly 6.3 million visitors and the publication of a unified consular guide.
The guide provides information to Moroccans living abroad on the required documents, in addition to the establishment of the service birth for the transcription of births remotely.
Bourita noted that the new law on civil status will facilitate things for Moroccans residing abroad, adding that since 2019 appointments have been launched remotely, through a new platform, with nearly 1,370,000 appointments made online.
The ministry is particularly concerned with allowing citizens to obtain their national identity cards and travel passports remotely, said Nasser Bourita, explaining that the ministry is currently working in collaboration with the Ministry of Interior and the Directorate General of National Security, to materialize the project in the coming weeks.
The third axis is related to proximity services, which can be achieved, according to the minister, in two ways.
The first concerns mobile consulates and the second is related to open doors during weekends, especially in European countries. The establishment of consulates in transit points, whether in ports or in some airports, is intended to allow MREs to obtain a set of documents during their trip.
The fourth axis concerns social actions of proximity, including those related to visits to Moroccans serving prison sentences, or those concerning the repatriation of citizens in difficult situations.
The Minister also pointed out that the number of members of the Moroccan community established abroad registered in consular centers is now about 5.3 million people, a number that may exceed 6 million if we include the non-registered.
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