Moroccan nationals living abroad, and youngsters with dual nationalities are confused by Morocco's new compulsory military service bill. The latter was approved on Monday by the Kingdom's government. Restoring compulsory military service in the Kingdom has left Dutch-Moroccans worried, says Dutch online newspaper Nltimes. Young people with dual citizenships in the Netherlands are wondering whether they will have to join Morocco's army for one year. According to the Dutch-Moroccans SMN foundation, the measure will «probably not affect Moroccans who do not live in the country», says the same source. The bill approved on Monday, 20th of August, indicates that Moroccan men and women aged between 19 and 25 years will have to spend a year in the military, starting from October. However, it does not refer to whether this new law will cover Moroccans living abroad too. «Until 2006 there was also a conscription, which then also did not apply to Moroccans abroad. We have not received any signals that it is different now», explained Bouchra Didi, the spokesperson for SMN. Meanwhile, former SMN chairman Fouad Sidali stated that «Morocco would prefer that those young people maintain the bond with the country, by going there every year on vacation and preferably also investing». «What would they get then by introducing a conscription? In many cases it would only ensure that young people say: 'Look out for it', and stay in the Netherlands. And then I'm not even talking about the administrative burden», he added. Moroccan young people in Belgium Moroccan youngsters living in Belgium are also affected by the Kingdom's newly implemented law. Belgium newspaper L'Eco referred to the subject, indicating that «even if the measure is quite unclear, young Moroccan-Belgians are concerned». Indeed, the same source explains that «in the bill, there is absolutely nothing that points at people with dual citizenships» In this case, every Belgian-Moroccan national is supposed to pay close attention to the new compulsory military service in the Kingdom, added L'Echo. For the record, Morocco implemented compulsory military service for the first time in 1966. The same law was amended on the 25th of August 1999. Seven years later, compulsory military service had been removed by a royal decree in 2006, notably «for financial reasons».
