Source: Member
Source: MAP
The project “Tamkine-Migrants”, aiming at strengthening the rights of migrants in Morocco, was presented at a national workshop in Rabat on the subject of “Migrant women and children: What rights are now effective in Morocco”. This project is about reducing the vulnerability of migrant women and children in Morocco by means of direct action with the general public and advocacy with the authorities concerned.
Jointly financed by the European Union (EU) and Terre des hommes, the “Tamkine-Migrants” project principally aims at improving access to healthcare and educational services and for justice for migrant women and children from the Sub-Sahara. The Terre des hommes delegation in Morocco lends its expertise on questions about migration to the project, especially regarding the protection of the most vulnerable migrants: women and children. Tdh initiated a preliminary phase of the project and today, as an associate, supports the Moroccans involved in defending the rights of these migrants, in particular with regard to their access to healthcare and educational services.
Speaking at the national workshop, Ambassador Eneko Landaburu, head of the European Union (EU) delegation in Rabat, emphasised that support for human rights is a central theme with priority in EU/Morocco cooperation. “In the migration groups from Sub-Saharan Africa to Morocco, there is an increasing number of women and of children, many of whom are not accompanied by their parents”, he noted, paying tribute in this respect to the ‘Tamkine’ activity, which at its Centre offers an understanding reception to the migrant women and children arriving in Morocco. The new constitution of Morocco declares non-discrimination and equality of chances for all, and sanctions the primacy of international agreements over internal law. With the plus of the installation of a new government in January 2012, the new institutional and political situation is an opportunity to improve access to their rights for migrant women and children in Morocco.
The President of our partner association Oum El Banine, Jamila Ait Blal, put forward the various undertakings done by this NGO, notably making their experience available on the subjects of receiving and looking after single women and the administrative support needed for identifying and registering new-born babies. In Rabat, she continued, the association works mainly towards access to healthcare for expectant mothers or those with very young children.
Speakers also put emphasis on the necessity of setting up mechanisms for the protection of the migrants’ rights in transit countries, and of promoting the creation of a platform for collaboration between the various associations working in this field.
They also spoke about the place of migrant rights in national and European migration politics, and the need encourage a change in thinking so as to ensure protection for this part of the population.
With a budget of one million Euro, ‘Tamkine-Migrants’, which started in May 2011 for a period of three years, is a project working around Rabat, Tangiers and Oujda. The project, based on a synergy of complementary competencies, is based on five themes, i.e. Health (access to treatment, a service for monitoring, etc.), Justice (legal and administrative support), Education (access to schooling and job training), Civil Society (awareness-making, etc.), and Advocacy (power of suggestion). It was set up by the NGO Tierra de Hombres(Terre des Hommes) in partnership with the Oum El Banine (OEB) association and the anti-racist group for the support and defence of foreigners and migrants (GADEM).
Further information on Tdh intervention in Morocco
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