Moroccans abroad demand women be able to obtain IDs for children without father's presence

The Moroccan community abroad has welcomed the recent measure to allow women to issue passports for their children without the need for the father’s consent and presence, a demand that has been constantly reiterated by professionals working in the field of family and women’s rights.

Last March, Moroccan consulates abroad confirmed that “Moroccan women can now apply to their offices to renew or update the passports of their minor children without the need for the father’s presence or consent, except in cases where a court ruling has been issued.”

This follows up on an earlier assertion by Interior Minister Abdelouafi Laftit that his ministry “is working with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to establish a legal framework that enables Moroccan women to issue passports for their children without requiring the father’s consent.”
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As such, a common discussion among the Moroccan community abroad, especially in Belgium, concerns “the need to address the inability of Moroccan women to obtain national IDs for their minor children at the Kingdom’s consulates.”

In this regard, there have been demands for “progress on this file in parallel with the progress achieved with regard to passports.”

The parents of Moroccan children abroad, whether born in Morocco or abroad, are obliged to prepare national IDs for their children at the Kingdom’s consulates around the world, a process that is jointly carried out by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the General Directorate of National Security, which prepares these documents and delivers them to them at consular posts.

Mohamed Chradi, from the Moroccan community in Belgium, said that “Moroccans abroad have in recent weeks noted with satisfaction the Ministry of Interior’s circular regarding the adoption of flexibility in the issuance of passports for mothers without the need for the presence of the father, an important measure that was positively responded to by the Legal Affairs Directorate of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and distributed to various Moroccan consulates abroad; however, we demand that the same flexibility be adopted regarding the issuance of national cards for minor children.”

“The Moroccan community in Europe, especially in Belgium, is still faced with the requirement of the presence of the father of the minor child, as the presence of the mother alone is not sufficient to carry out the administrative procedures in this regard, knowing that it is difficult for the father to always be present,” Chradi told Hespress.

The Moroccan resident of Brussels pointed out that “the bet is that the dynamic will be comprehensive and inclusive and constitute a continuation of the progress achieved weeks ago regarding the issuance of the passport, and it is not unlikely that the General Directorate of National Security, in cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, will take the same action, which we hope and emphasize, so that the Moroccan community will be free from any administrative complications, especially with such important identity documents.”

For his part, Yazid Chabat, also from the Belgian community, said that “there are demands to strengthen the procedure of granting mothers abroad the possibility of issuing their children’s passports by granting them the same right to obtain national IDs for their children at the level of consulates, where they usually encounter the need for the father’s presence.”

“This measure would relieve the Moroccan community abroad from any complications, especially since we know that consulates are not available in all regions outside the Kingdom,” Chabat tells Hespress, noting that “the passport and the national ID are two important documents that cannot be separated from each other, but they should be treated with the same flexibility.”

“There is progress at the level of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs abroad and its dealings with Moroccan citizens living outside their country, and this progress can only benefit them, but we remain committed to resolving the points that are still pending, and perhaps Morocco will not hesitate to respond,” he said.