Morocco

In Morocco, migrants face obstacles to birth registration in the form of high documentary requirements. In particular, Sub-Saharan African women women with an irregular status have their access to birth registration blocked. When parents who give birth while transiting through Morocco are unable to obtain a birth certificate, their child remains stateless until a third country grants them a nationality. The Human Rights Committee (2016) encouraged Morocco to remove legal barriers to the registration of newborns and the recognition of refugees’ and asylum seekers’ marriages. The UPR (2017) suggested that Morocco eliminate fees for birth certificates and facilitate the issuance of birth certificates to all refugee children. The UPR (2023) recommended that Morocco facilitate procedures for birth registration, including for children of migrants, to prevent statelessness. Organizations have denounced the non-issuance of birth certificates for children born on Moroccan soil to refugee parents, who are often told by civil status bureaucrats to go see a judge to justify their irregular presence in the country.