Eurasia Review
The Minister for Home Affairs of Spain, Jorge Fernández Díaz, and the Moroccan Home Affairs Minister, Mohamed Hassad, held a bilateral meeting last night in Tangier (Morocco). Photo Credit: Spain’s Minister for Home Affairs.
Spain’s Minister for Home Affairs, Jorge Fernández Díaz, and the Moroccan Home Affairs Minister, Mohamed Hassad, held a bilateral meeting Saturday night in Tangier, Morocco.
This bilateral meeting stems from a commitment by the two ministers to maintain constant and regular contact in order to analyze the priority issues for the two countries, such as immigration, the fight against terrorism, the fight against drug trafficking and issues related to police training and Operation Strait of Gibraltar Passage.
1. Illegal immigration: The Home Affairs Ministers of Spain and Morocco welcomed the efforts made by the two countries in terms of combating illegal migratory flows.
In this regard, Jorge Fernández Díaz highlighted the effective work by Morocco on controlling and monitoring migratory flows and expressed his support for the new migration and asylum policy first launched by H.M. King Mohammed VI and embodied in the processes of foreign citizen regularization in Morocco, among other things.
The two ministers reiterated their commitment for the fight against illegal immigration to be carried out within a framework of absolute respect for human rights and human dignity.
2. Fight against terrorism: The two Home Affairs Ministers expressed their commitment to improving the mechanisms for exchange between the intelligence services, specifically in the fight against networks for recruiting terrorist combatants who later travel to conflict zones.
On this matter, the two ministers welcomed the excellent results in the fight against Jihadi terrorism that have been achieved thanks to the mutual trust and close collaboration that exist between the State law enforcement agencies of the two countries, as demonstrated by the recent arrests and operations to break up Jihadi networks carried out in both Spain and Morocco.
3. Fight against drug trafficking:The two ministers agreed to move forward with the development of common and effective mechanisms, and to continue working together on achieving effective results in the fight against drug trafficking by air, sea and land in the Strait of Gibraltar.
On this matter, the two Home Affairs Ministers highlighted the boost given by the two countries to the fight against drug trafficking by air across the Strait of Gibraltar and underlined the effectiveness of the Telos Plan – an excellent model for coordination in border control strategies and the fight against drug trafficking.
4. Police training: The two ministers reviewed the current highly satisfactory status of cooperation in terms of police training.
5. Operation Strait of Gibraltar Passage 2014: The Home Affairs Ministers of Spain and Morocco discussed the upcoming Operation Strait of Gibraltar Passage 2015 that will be launched on 15 June and will conclude on 15 September. On this matter, the Home Affairs Ministers highlighted the efforts made by the authorities of the two countries within the framework of close cooperation focused on such aspects as fluidity, security and passenger comfort.
The two ministers announced that a meeting of the Spain-Morocco Joint Committee will be held shortly to assess Operation Strait of Gibraltar Passage 2014 (Spanish acronym: OPE) and committed to guaranteeing the progress made to date in this regard to ensure that Operation Strait of Gibraltar Passage 2015 is a success.
6. Joint Police Cooperation Centres: Jorge Fernández Díaz and Mohamed Hassad expressed satisfaction with the positive results achieved by the Joint Police Cooperation Centres in Algeciras and Tangier, launched in May 2012. Officers from the Spanish National Police Force, the Moroccan National Police Force, the Spanish Guardia Civil and the Moroccan Royal Gendarmerie work together at these centres.
Finally, during the course of the meeting, Jorge Fernández Díaz and Mohamed Hassad welcomed the quality and convincing results stemming from the high degree of cooperation between the services provided by the Home Affairs Ministries of the two countries and reiterated their determination to keep working in this regard, highlighting the magnificent ties of trust and agreement that exist between the two institutions.
