The government maintained efforts to prevent human trafficking. The government did not have a national inter-ministerial antitrafficking commission as required by the 2016 anti-trafficking law; a 2017 decree to establish the committee remained pending approval at the end of the reporting period. Nevertheless, several ministries throughout the Moroccan government took various leadership roles to combat trafficking. The government also continued to implement a national anti-trafficking action plan, which included coordination across relevant ministries.
The government, however, relied heavily on NGOs and international organizations to address trafficking. The government continued to raise awareness of the anti-trafficking law among government officials and vulnerable populations, including women, children, and migrants; it also organized trainings – with support from an international organization – to raise awareness of trafficking among government entities and civil society.
The government continued its regularization campaigns to grant legal status and protections to migrants, refugees, and asylum-seekers, which helped decrease this population’s vulnerability to trafficking. The government did not report efforts to reduce the demand for commercial sex acts or child sex tourism during the reporting period.
In October 2018, the government implemented Law No.19.12 addressing foreign domestic workers; the law required a standard employee contract, limits on working hours, a weekly rest day, and a minimum wage. The law also specifically limited working hours for minor domestic employees aged 16-18 to 40 hours per week; it further prohibited minor domestic workers from dangerous work. The law also banned the practice of “intermediaries” negotiating the procurement of domestic workers on behalf of the employee and the recruitment agency.
The government continued to operate a hotline through the National Center for Listening and Reporting for the public to report abuses against child rights, but the government did not report if the hotline received any claims of potential child trafficking crimes.
During the reporting period, the government continued a program that provided assistance to homeless children in Casablanca and Meknes to prevent them from becoming victims of various forms of exploitation, including forced labor. The Ministry of Labor and Vocational Integration (MOLVI) continued to conduct child labor inspections in the formal economy across the country, but the government reported it remained concerned about child labor violations in the informal sector, including potential forced child labor crimes. The government reported that overall labor inspections suffered from insufficient personnel and resources to address child labor violations, including potential child trafficking crimes, throughout the country. Furthermore, there was no national focal point to submit complaints about child labor or forced child labor, and no national referral mechanism for referring children found during inspections to appropriate social services.
The government provided its diplomatic personnel with human rights training, including respect for labor and trafficking in persons laws, in their basic courses before being assigned abroad. Moroccan peacekeeping forces received anti-trafficking training and operated under a “no tolerance” standard for its troops involved in UN peacekeeping missions.
Adapted from TIP 2019 by the U.S. Department of State
