E/CN.4/2004/76/Add.3 page 6 Moroccan professionals involved in migration issues both inside and outside of government and its information campaigns directed at migrants and public opinion in general are to be welcomed warmly. 12. The Special Rapporteur stresses that the interest taken in migration problems should not embrace solely prospective emigrants, but should also offer the country information, ideas and recommendations on the situation of irregular migration. In that regard, she welcomes the announcement of the establishment, within the Ministry of the Interior, of a migration observatory with responsibility for formulating a national migration strategy and centralizing all information on migration. Together with the Observatory of the Moroccan Community Abroad, this body should be able to create a national statistical database on migration, propose concrete measures, undertake studies on the phenomenon of migration and furnish a complete picture of migration dynamics in Morocco. 13. At the end of her visit, the Special Rapporteur learned about the imminent establishment of other institutions and bodies involved in the migration phenomenon, namely the Department of Migration and Border Surveillance, to be mainly responsible for operationalizing the strategy to combat migrant trafficking networks and for border surveillance, and the standing bilateral committee formed by the Ministry of the Interior of Morocco and its Spanish counterpart to deal with all issues relating to migration, the joint mechanisms that need to be put in place, and exchanges of information and liaison officers. B. Morocco as a country of emigration 1. The Moroccan expatriate community 14. Most Moroccan migrants who are living abroad in a regular or irregular situation come from one of three main regions of Morocco, between Nador and Oujda, Casablanca and Beni Mellal, and Casablanca and Marrakesh. In the current state of Morocco’s economy, the rate of unemployment is more than 20 per cent and economic growth is not strong enough to reduce it or to absorb new labour market entrants. The number of Moroccan expatriates who are in a regular situation is estimated at 2.5 million. They make an important contribution to the country’s development; remittances by Moroccan expatriates are the primary source of foreign currency (36.2 billion dirhams). 15. According to the information received by the Special Rapporteur, Moroccan expatriates are subjected to human rights violations that affect their security and dignity and their conditions of life, work and residence, and also to forms of discrimination based on race and religion. A further very significant problem seems to be the frequent conflicts between the laws of their country of residence and those of their country of nationality, conflicts based on court decisions that contrast with family law in particular. 16. The Special Rapporteur met the Deputy Minister with responsibility for the Moroccan expatriate community to discuss complaints from Moroccan expatriates and the actions the Government could take to resolve them. The Special Rapporteur welcomes the creation of this institutional framework, which serves as a bridge between the Moroccan Government and Moroccan expatriates and caters to the needs of Moroccan expatriates. She views as very