Morocco's Contribution to the Consolidation of Intra-African Migration: An Analysis through the Prism of Gabonese and Cameroonian Student Migration Flows in the City of Fez

Abstract

This article brings further light on the enhancement of intra-African migration, which hardly makes the subject of in-depth research, besides irregular migration to Europe. This study highlights Morocco's involvement in the consolidation of migratory processes of African students from the perspective of African Cameroonian and Gabonese students in the city of Fez. Semi-structured interviews revealed mixed opinions regarding their integration into the host country, both in the university environment and in their living place. The study finds that Fez is an ideal place to study even as one student community (Gabonese) benefits from all the facilities to the detriment of the other (Cameroonian), in relation to the agreements pre-established by their governments, which will lead to an imbalance in the integration relationship, and which gave rise to a comparison between the two student communities. This analysis led to questions about the involvement of the home states but also about the reactions of the host country to this policy of the Kingdom to attract more of the students to study in Fez. This study aligns with contemporary studies on international migration, constitutes a perspective for the expansion of legal migration channels and an invitation for the African Union to promote ‘intra-African’ migration.