Morocco has 19,253 refugees and asylum seekers at the end of March 2023 – Morocco Today

The city of Rabat is reintegrating the largest number of refugees with a figure of 1,551 (15.6%). The city of Oujda is second with 1,028 refugees (10.3%).

Statistics: At the end of March, the number of refugees in Morocco reached 9,987. The majority are Syrians totaling 5,612.

The number of refugees and asylum seekers in Morocco is increasing. According to the latest figures from the High Commission for Refugees (HCR) in Morocco, there were 19,253 refugees and asylum seekers in the country as of March 31, 2023, up from 18,877 at the end of February 2023. As a result, the number of refugees has increased. At the end of March 9 .987. As in previous years, Syrian refugees still topped the list with a total of 5,612. As for other countries, the Central African Republic is second with 1,191 refugees.

Next with 895 refugees are Yemen, South Sudan (343), Cote d’Ivoire (306), Sudan (291), Palestine (195), Cameroon (185), Democratic Republic of Congo (183), Guinea (177), Senegal (120), Mali (62), Nigeria (31), Chad (8) and the Republic of The Gambia (2). Males still outnumber females. UNHCR data shows 6,276 male refugees (62.8%) against 3,711 female refugees (37.2%). Broken down by age, 6,599 refugees were between the ages of 18 and 59, or 66.1%.

23.4% of the overall refugee population is made up of children aged 0 to 12 years, which is a total of 2,333 (1,136 aged 0 to 5 and 1,197 aged 6 to 12). Refugees over 60 represent only 2.7% (273). Regarding the education level of the refugees, 21% have no school level, 33% have primary level, 24% have secondary level and 18% have university level studies. Regarding their previous occupation, in their country of origin, 23.3% of refugees worked in the tertiary sector (services, liberal arts), 25.6% were unemployed, 8.9% were students, and 6.7% worked in the primary sector, mainly agriculture. Only 1.6% worked in the secondary sector (industry).

Always at the forefront

The city of Rabat is reintegrating the largest number of refugees with a figure of 1,551 (15.6%). The city of Oujda is second with 1,028 refugees (10.3%). In third place is the city of Casablanca with 982 refugees (9.8%). Next come the cities of Marrakech (577), Fez (505), Meknes (457), Kenitra (453) and Salé (442). It should be noted that 2,854 refugees, or 28.6%, registered with UNHCR in Morocco have specific needs. Among these refugees, 471 are in critical condition, 841 are children in critical condition, 71 are elderly at risk, 206 are women in critical condition, and 57 refugees are victims of torture.

9,266 asylum seekers at the end of March

As for asylum seekers, their number at the end of March 2023 was 9,266. They come mainly from Guinea with 2,395 applicants, followed by Senegal (1,652), Sudan (1,235), Ivory Coast (982), Mali (647), Cameroon (646), Nigeria (424), Democratic Republic of the Congo (219), Republic of the Gambia ( 175), Chad (147), South Sudan (34), Central African Republic (24), Yemen (6) and Syria (5).!