Brussels, 16/10/2009 (Agence Europe) - Morocco must be backed in its border surveillance efforts and the fight against illegal people smuggling networks, said Jacques Barrot, Immigration Commissioner. “Morocco must be assisted in the surveillance of its borders and in combating illegal migrants” on their way towards the European Union, he asserted on Tuesday 13 October, according to the Moroccan press agency, MAP. Jacques Barrot takes the view that Morocco today is not so much a country from which migrants come but rather a transit country. He hailed the fact that young Moroccan executives and the Moroccan elite prefer to remain in the Kingdom of Morocco, thus largely contributing to the country's development. The commissioner's statements were made on the sidelines of the ceremony, in Brussels, for signing 55 projects financed as part of the joint European Commission/United Nations Migration and Development Initiative (JMDI). Morocco is at the forefront of the countries benefiting from local development funding with 8 projects, amounting to an overall €1.6 million. These projects were selected from the 527 presented by 16 countries that were to benefit from this three-year programme (2008-2011), which receives an allocation of €15 million. They concern several areas including agriculture, literacy for women and healthcare, and affect several regions of the Kingdom of Morocco. Morocco is also one of the countries, like Libya and Algeria, which refused to seal re-entry agreements with the European Union. (B.C./transl.jl)