Morocco

Baroness Royall of Blaisdon Excerpts

Thursday 27th June 2013 Grand Committee

[Baroness Royall of Blaisdon]

My Lords, I am grateful to my noble friend Lord Harrison for this timely debate, which has been a great learning process for me. It has been very good to learn about all the positive things that are happening in the relationship between our two countries. I am especially glad that the noble Lord, Lord Sharman, is here, as the Prime Minister’s trade envoy. It is good to know that UKTI is focusing on Morocco. We would all welcome the rebirth of the Moroccan-British Business Council.

I know that in April the Foreign Secretary hosted a high-level lunch for a Moroccan delegation. It is good that, at that level, we are making a positive and very strong relationship with Morocco. I understand that we are also helping to train Moroccan journalists, strengthening wider democratic participation and increasing public transparency, as well as helping to support the fight against corruption, which is all very much to be welcomed.

Various noble Lords have mentioned the European Union and the fact that it is working with Morocco. I am glad that the United Kingdom is working as part of the EU on development projects and business and educational projects with Morocco. I think that negotiations have begun, or are about to begin, on a free trade agreement between the EU and Morocco, and I would certainly welcome some information from the Minister on that. Given that Morocco is the gateway between Europe and north Africa, it is essential, as noble Lords have said, that we have a very strong relationship between the European Union and Morocco.

I hope that the European Union will also be able to do something to assist Morocco with the problem that it has, and we all have, in relation to youth unemployment. Various noble Lords mentioned the Arab spring, and there was a sort of Arab spring in Morocco. As the noble Lord, Lord Chidgey, said, it fast-tracked constitutional change. We must pay tribute to the political parties in Morocco for the fact that it was a peaceful Arab spring and has led to positive developments. The fact that there was an Arab spring probably arose largely because of the frustration of young people and the fact that the country was not meeting economic needs—and the fact that there are so many young unemployed people in the rest of the Arab world.

Many noble Lords have spoken about the desire for links between British universities and those in Morocco, which is terrific. Clearly, the British Council, as ever, is doing a very good job. The premium that employers put on English in Morocco is tremendous and there is obviously much work to be done.

I had a conversation with my honourable friend Ian Lucas MP, who visited Morocco in March 2012. He was deeply impressed by the infrastructure and the development of renewable energies. The noble Lord, Lord Sharman, mentioned lots of renewable energies, but he did not mention solar energy. There must be an awful lot of sunshine in Morocco and I wondered whether we were working with the Moroccans on developing solar power.

One challenge that Morocco faces is with human rights. In May, the Moroccan Association of Human Rights stated that, since the adoption of a more democratic constitution during the Arab spring, which is welcome, arrests of political activists have increased. I know that Morocco is attempting to improve its human rights record by ratifying UN conventions on torture, discrimination against women and children’s rights. It has also appointed its first Minister for Human Rights. However, criticism of Islam, the monarchy or Morocco’s presence in Western Sahara is still not tolerated, so there is work to be done. I am sure that our Government are doing whatever they can to support Morocco as it strives to improve its human rights record.

That leads me to the problem in Western Sahara with the Polisario. I know that Christopher Ross, who was appointed in January 2009 as a UN special envoy, recently described the present situation as “untenable” and called for negotiations without preconditions and in good faith to find a mutually acceptable and lasting solution that would lead to self-determination for the Sahrawi people. It cannot be right that so many people are still living in camps in Western Sahara. There has to be a solution. It also has wider implications for the wider Maghreb, because it affects Morocco’s relationships with Algeria and the trade between those countries.

The position of women has also been mentioned. We are doing some work on the empowerment of women because, as many noble Lords have said, women face a very unequal society in Morocco and there is much to be done, including on human trafficking. A UN independent expert has said:

“Morocco faces considerable challenges as a source, transit, and increasingly as a destination country for trafficking in persons”.

I would be grateful to hear the Minister’s comments about trafficking and what we are doing to assist Morocco with that very difficult problem.

I end on a positive note. We have a shared aspiration with Morocco for a secure, peaceful and prosperous north Africa in which Morocco has a large part to play. One of those parts relates to the creative industries, which have huge potential in Morocco. I was delighted to read that there will be a Marrakesh film festival in November. I did not know about it, and I think that it is really great that things such as that are happening. I end on that positive note. I am very glad that our Government are doing what they can to foster a better relationship, including a trade relationship, with Morocco.