Recently, Italy has recorded a remarkable uplift in the number of young Moroccans applying for political asylum, Italian Ministry of Interior said as reported by Al Quds Al Arabi on Monday. Last year, the number of Moroccans seeking asylum in Italy exceeded 1,500, a trend that decreased in 2017 with more than 800 applications up to this summer. «While nearly 1400 Moroccans have arrived this year in Spain (...) this figure remains low compared to Italy. Since the beginning of this year until the 13th of July, more than 4,000 Moroccans have arrived in Italy. Morocco is also among the top 10 nationalities of newcomers.» Al Quds Al Arabi estimates that the percentage of Moroccans remains relatively large, as there are 1,556 Moroccans who have applied for political asylum. This year, 880 asylum seekers are Moroccans, representing 22% of the applications submitted to the Italian authorities. For the Italian Interior Ministry, quoted by the London-based media, the reasons mentioned by the Moroccan refugees differ. «They mention political reasons such as their opposition to the Moroccan regime, the defense of an idea of a Republic or their opposition to the government. Some say they have been converted to Christianity and that they are oppressed and others claim to be homosexual and that they are fleeing Morocco in quest of freedom by reporting cases of arrests and violence against homosexuals in Morocco,» The same source added. «Observers estimate that many of those Moroccans who seek political asylum do so because it is a quick way to have a temporary residence document before leaving for Belgium, or other countries to join their families,» concludes Al Quds Al Arabi.
