Has Minister Wopke Hoekstra (Foreign Affairs, CDA) told the truth about a deal with Morocco? That is the question now that a confidential action plan between the Netherlands and Morocco has been released. In the agreement, both countries promise not to interfere in each other’s “internal affairs”. Minister Hoekstra previously denied that agreements had been made about expressing criticism of Morocco.
The Morocco agreement dates from last year, but was only made public last week at the request of the House of Representatives. This is due to reporting NRC about a ‘return deal’: Morocco would again cooperate in taking back rejected asylum seekers, in return the Netherlands would no longer openly criticize the human rights situation in the country.
Minister Hoekstra denied that such an agreement had been made. “I do not recognize myself in that,” he wrote in response to questions from the House of Representatives. “No agreements have been made that the Netherlands will no longer publicly criticize human rights.”
Hoekstra initially refused to make the agreements public. That wouldn’t be “nice”. “What we have agreed diplomatically is that we will not throw those kinds of documents out on the street.” The action plan is under pressure from the House of Representatives released last week. So with a striking passage about not interfering in “internal affairs”.
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According to the State Department, that sentence refers to “the principle of non-intervention”: the rule that a state may not intervene in the internal politics of another country. The passage is merely a “confirmation of a fundamental legal principle,” said a spokesman for the ministry.
Human rights situation
But according to Moroccan experts, the passage from the agreement does mean that the Netherlands will no longer openly criticize the human rights situation in Morocco. “Criticism of the detention of journalists and demonstrators, as the Netherlands previously expressed, is seen by Morocco as interfering in a domestic matter,” says Jan Hoogland, Morocco expert and formerly employed at the Dutch embassy in Rabat. “Morocco wants to prevent that, because they like to maintain the image of a healthy democratic country.”
According to Morocco expert Paolo De Mas, the agreement in the action plan also means that the Dutch government will have to swallow open criticism of Morocco. “The government can no longer shout: ‘The rule of law in Morocco is no good’. Morocco regards this as interfering in a domestic matter.”
With this action plan we are doing realpolitik
According to De Mas, the agreements fit in with a new attitude of the Netherlands to put its own interests first in international relations. De Mas: “We are doing this action plan realpolitik: rather close deals on dossiers that are important to us than continue to say in vain that all things are wrong in other countries.”
Extradition treaty
There are more agreements in the revealed action plan. For example, talks are taking place about an extradition treaty between the two countries. Morocco has been insisting on this for some time. A treaty would mean that Dutch judges would henceforth have to assume that human rights are respected in Morocco when requesting extradition. Critics say this is inconsistent with reports of torture, corruption and political persecution in Morocco.
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The document also contains agreements on migration, culture, trade and social security. For example, consultations have been set up to speed up the return of Moroccan asylum seekers. Morocco also wants to open a Moroccan Cultural Center in Amsterdam.
Moroccan-Dutch organizations are outraged by the agreement. They fear, among other things, that the new cultural center will “serve as a vehicle for even more interference and interference,” says Riffian-Dutch activist Saïd Bouddouft. The Moroccan organizations are also concerned about the extradition treaty that is currently being discussed. They fear the extradition of political activists from Morocco who are considered suspects by the country.