The French Minister of the Interior has just paid a two-day visit to the Cherifian kingdom. During this very first official trip by Gerald Darmanin outside the European Union, it was about anti-terrorism, the fight against drug trafficking, migration and the organization of the Muslim cult. Analysis.

He dressed in a very official blue suit and tie and his face masked that the French Minister of the Interior landed in Rabat on the morning of Thursday, October 15. This two-day trip comes at a time when the socio-political situation in France is straining, after the restrictions recently announced by President Emmanuel Macron to counter the pandemic crisis.

This did not prevent the senior French official from offering himself, a few hours after his arrival in the Shereefian kingdom, a small visit to the Mohammed VI Museum of modern and contemporary art. This cultural place is run by his friend, the Moroccan painter Mehdi Qotbi. The French official took advantage of this walk to salute ” the great effort led by King Mohammed VI to promote culture and cultural openness “. A kindness intended to prepare the ground for the serene evocation of less innocuous subjects, on the occasion of this official visit, the first that Mr. Darmanin makes outside the European space.

The choice of Morocco as the first official destination hardly surprises Emmanuel Dupuy. The president of the Foresight and Security Institute in Europe (IPSE) told Sputnik that this is a necessary step for any French Minister of the Interior, especially in view of the important security cooperation between France and the kingdom. He takes as an illustration the cooperation for the exchange of information between Portugal, Spain, France and Morocco, within the framework of a G4, but also the cooperation of the French security services with the Moroccan Central Office. of judicial investigations (BCIJ), ” which is incredibly effective  “.

Main course

This is how the French Minister of the Interior chained meetings the day after his arrival. The first and by far the most important, he held it with his Moroccan counterpart, Abdelouafi Laftit. The discussion between the two ministers obviously focused on the fight against terrorism, the fight against drug trafficking and illegal immigration.

Regarding this last issue, the French official mainly mentioned the issue of unaccompanied minors , their identification and their follow-up. “ When migrants are of age, we agreed that it was normal to continue, despite the Covid crisis, to ensure that they return to Moroccan territory, and when they are minors, to continue to [them] protect and be able to bring them back when possible, to their families in Morocco or to Moroccan educational centers , ” declared Gérald Darmanin, Friday, October 15 after his meeting with the Moroccan Minister of the Interior, as reported by AFP .

In response to Sputnik’s questions, Moroccan political scientist and law professor Mustapha Sehimi underlines the importance of this seemingly innocuous file:

“The issue of unaccompanied minors poses a real social and security problem for France. Morocco’s position on this issue is not simple either, since the repatriation procedure is extremely complicated. And I’m not sure the kingdom is really keen to take operative steps to organize this operation. ”

Regarding drug trafficking, Gérald Darmanin had to complain, according to some indiscretions, of Moroccan cannabis which continues to give the French security services a hard time. Cannabis seizures increased sharply in 2017 and 2018 in the country. Three quarters are made of resin from almost all of Morocco , according to the latest report from the French Observatory for Drugs and Drug Addiction (OFDT). But, as if not to anger his hosts, the Minister of the Interior told the official Moroccan agency MAP that “ France itself must do more to protect Morocco from trafficking leaving Europe, [… ] particularly for psychotropic products and synthetic drugs. “

On the fight against terrorism, the French minister was less verbose. “ We were able to work on several subjects relating to national security and the fight against terrorism, ” he limited himself to declaring to the press last Friday.

“It emerges from the meeting between the two interior ministers that new measures will be adopted between Paris and Rabat to strengthen control and repression with regard to the fight against terrorism”, predicts Mustapha Sehimi.

Emmanuel Dupuy confirms: “ The purpose of this visit is to strengthen the exchange of information in order to fight terrorism in particular. The objective is also to have stronger cooperation between pre-existing structures and institutions, between the French General Directorate of Internal Security (DGSI) and the Moroccan Central Bureau of Judicial Investigation (BCIJ). To have a better knowledge and sociology of terrorist profiles, because several attacks committed on the European continent and particularly in France are by binationals ”.

Mr. Dupuy recalls that cooperation between Morocco and France makes it possible to thwart attacks on French territory and to prevent possible attacks that could be committed by people coming from Morocco or from the Maghreb region: “It is this cooperation that the two countries seek to strengthen, ”he insists, stressing that Morocco is a more stable lever than Algeria or Tunisia.

When Morocco inspires Islam in France

During his short visit to the capital of the Kingdom of Morocco, Gérald Darmanin also met the Moroccan Minister of Habous (mortmain property in Muslim law) and Islamic Affairs, Ahmed Toufiq. Nothing filtered out on the content of the meeting with this so-called “sovereignty” ministry, which is in charge of religious affairs in the kingdom.

Asked about this mysterious meeting, the Moroccan political scientist Mustapha Sehimi explains that it falls within the framework of President Macron’s new policy concerning Islam in France, and his objective to frame and further control the activity of Islamic associations and Koranic teaching structures in France. “ There is a desire to take stock of the state of relations between the two countries in terms of worship. Since Morocco trains preachers who are sent to France under bilateral agreements, concluded via the Ministry of Habous and Islamic Affairs, and the Hassan II Foundation. There are currently around 80 , ” he explains.

It is even a key step in the visit of the French minister, according to Emmanuel Dupuy. The specialist in European security issues and international relations notes that this meeting is necessarily linked to the news of the future law on “separatism” in France, where part of President Emmanuel Macron’s last speech delivered on October 2 mentions the need to rely on models that have worked or that should potentially serve as inspiration when it comes to building the Islam of France . ” An Islam which would undoubtedly be purged of the too heavy weight of consular Islam [a religiosity developed from a link with the country of origin, which often allows its financing and ensures control over its members, editor’s note] ”, underlines the president of IPSE.

“It is logical that the French Minister of the Interior thinks in a convergent manner with Morocco for the training of imams. The Mohamed VI Institute [a special Moroccan training school for imams and chaplains and chaplains, editor’s note] has already trained, since 2015, from 500 to 600 imams in the West African space. It is quite normal, when it is a question of certifying imams in France, to see how training institutes with a regional and transnational vocation operate ”, adds the French specialist.

He also notes, on the part of the organization of worship, the importance for France of the commercial organization of small and large pilgrimages (Umrah and Hajj): “ Because of the disorganization, these rituals pose a financial problem for French Muslim populations. From this point of view, in addition to the training of imams and the establishment of an enlightened Islam, the way in which Morocco organizes pilgrimages is also a model on which France wants to rely”.

Safety first

At the end of the day, the senior French official was also received by Nasser Bourita, Moroccan Minister of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccans living abroad. ” Questions of common interest ” were discussed between the two officials, who did not say more. ” It was just a courtesy visit ,” the department in charge of Moroccan diplomacy told Sputnik. The same source specifies that in this visit to Morocco, it is rather security issues that were priority.

The facts justify this importance given to the security aspect, since the French minister had to cut short his visit to Morocco. Back in France on the evening of Friday, October 16, Gérald Darmanin urgently opened a crisis unit after the terrorist murder that had just taken place in the street in the Paris region. History teacher Samuel Paty was beheaded after showing his class cartoons of the Prophet during a free speech class. French and Moroccans have work to avoid such abuses.