Migration in Morocco: History, Current Trends and Future ... - MGSoG

Overall educational performance in Morocco is significantly low, but compared to
other countries in the region, Morocco’s spending on education is considerably high
(Herrera, Dudwick & Murrugarra, 2009). Investment is tertiary education is particularly
high in both absolute and relative terms. The highly-educated population faces a serious
problem, however. Emigration of the highly skilled is explained to a large extent by the
unemployment problem in the country (De Haas, 2009). A significant share of the highly-
educated population in Morocco lives abroad, and when student migration is also
counted, highly-skilled migration becomes an even more interesting topic for
understanding Moroccan migration. In 2007 there were 41,501 students studying abroad
(UNESCO, 2007). It is worthwhile to mention that next to more common education
emigration regions like the UK and North America, Moroccan students also go to France,
Belgium, Germany, and Spain for higher education (Collyer et al., 2009).
Compared to some other emigration countries, “brain drain” is not considered to
be a big issue in Morocco. A survey done among MENA 9 country nationals has shown
that Moroccan nationals do not believe that Morocco is affected by “brain drain”. The
highly-skilled migration group found mainly in Northern America, in the United
Kingdom, and in France forms a new “bourgeoisie” (Khachani, 2005). Especially in
contemporary societies where knowledge is increasingly appreciated, this group is seen
as potential contributors to new types of development strategies for Morocco. Moreover,
the highly-skilled Moroccan community living abroad is expected to contribute to
country’s development through skill, knowledge, and technology transfer as well as
through sending more remittances back home.
In conclusion, it is difficult to observe the effect of highly-skilled migration on
development. As already discussed in the Moroccan Diaspora section, highly-skilled
Moroccan migrants constitute a Diaspora of knowledge. There is an increase in the
organization and activities of these groups; however, it is too early to conclude on their
effects. Considering that recent circular migration policies are mainly targeting the highly
skilled, it can be stated that highly-skilled migration will be considered as a development
tool for Morocco in the coming years as well.
9 The term MENA is an acronym for the Middle Eastern and North African Region.
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