Migration diplomacy in a de facto destination country: Morocco’s new intermestic migration policy and international socialization by/with the EU

Abstract

This article examines Morocco’s migration diplomacy with a focus on the New Migration Policy (NMP) it launched in 2013 as a destination country. It argues that the NMP serves the objectives of Moroccan foreign policy towards both Africa and the EU, as international socialization by/with the latter remains a primary driving force for the country’s migration policies. The main recent change in Morocco-EU socialization has been a return from norm-driven role playing to an overt exhibition of rational choice and a transactional attitude around migration/border control practices – while role playing has been reoriented towards Africa and the wider international community.