HIBAPRESS
The Spanish Vox party called for handling asylum requests submitted by Moroccan citizens with different procedures than those adopted for citizens of other countries, based on the European Union's classification of Morocco among the list of "safe countries of origin."
The Secretary-General of the Vox parliamentary group in the Congress of Deputies, José María Figarido, stated that Moroccans "cannot apply for asylum in Spain," as he declared in an interview with "Cuatro" channel, reported by "Servimedia" agency.
Figarido added that the European Union "considered Morocco a safe country, and its institutions are reliable," considering that asylum requests submitted by its citizens should not begin their procedures automatically, similar to what happens with countries that "have been declared dictatorial states" or where persecution targeting specific ethnic groups has been proven to exist.
According to the Spanish deputy, an asylum request from Morocco should, in the absence of clear evidence of personal persecution, be "automatically rejected," in his words.
Figarido's statements come in the context of implementing new European rules on "safe countries of origin," as the European Union included Morocco in its first list, which also includes Bangladesh, Colombia, Egypt, India, Kosovo, and Tunisia. These rules allow for faster processing of requests from citizens of these countries, while still examining each request individually.
Regarding asylum requests from individuals who claim to have been persecuted due to their sexual orientation, Figarido said that, in his view, it requires providing evidence of the individual themselves being subjected to direct persecution or arbitrary detention, not just a general claim.
The Spanish deputy also addressed the issue of unaccompanied foreign minors in Ceuta, stating that Morocco "said it wants the return of minors," and that Spain "is ready to return them."
The European Union had approved in February 2026 the first unified list at the Union level of "safe countries of origin," and the new rules came into effect on June 12, 2026. The European Union Agency for Asylum clarifies that classifying a country on this list does not negate the individual assessment of an asylum request, but rather can lead to it being subjected to accelerated procedures.
