What struck you about Morocco?

I would say how easily the society is corrupted by money. You can pretty much do anything and get away with things if you throw money at it. I was expecting this, but not to this level.

Cheryl wrote:

Hello everybody,

When you first settled in Morocco, you might have been struck by cultural aspects of life in Morocco and you might even have anecdotes about your integration here.
We would like you to share with expats-to-be what you discovered once you arrived in Morocco: customs, traditions, interesting or fun facts etc.

What were the things that surprised you the most after your arrival?

Are there any practices that are particularly out of step with your culture of origin? If so, what are they?

What do you think about them?

Did you get used to these and adopt some of these traditions or norms?

Do you think you would take some of the customs of Morocco with you if you were to return to your home country or move to another country?

Thank you!

Cheryl,
Expat.com team

There are many positive and negatives about Morocco.
Thé culture is one thing that takes time to get used to. Living hear for almost 7 years and I’m still learning new things about tradition and cultures, behaviours and other aspects.

What I learnt was is that most people in Morocco only want to do what they are used to. Not many people like to help as much as you would help, therefor you have to learn yourself sometimes the hard way.

People are generally friendly but at times can be misleading (the same behaviour for local as well as non local so they don’t just do this with for expat)

A lot of the culture is fascinating, interesting and enjoyable. But some parts can be a little confusing and contradicting but I guess this can be the case for anyone trying to get used to a new place.

Most families are open minded and allow everyone to experience everything which I think is great making your experience more enjoyable to explore the country.

The rules are a little confusing and complicated as there is to much corruption. I feel as though that the rules no one seems to know anymore as other user says throw money at it and get away with anything. I do not recommend doing this and always stick to the rules and laws to avoid any complication.

From my experience when I first moved here the corruption was terrible but over the years they have been stamping out this type of corruption however it still exist.

I do not wish to share this in public but I do recommend everyone to just stick to the rules and regardless of any local saying otherwise.

Moroccan are fun people and they love events and dancing within families. Something I’m sure people will experience wiles in morocco.

Food is also another thing that people will enjoy and the cooking techniques but the best part that i enjoy thé most is the exploring of this amazing country. The hidden gems and location that truly make you feel like your in paradise.

With covid restrictions it’s been difficult to explore and travel but I’m sure that will go back to normal soon. After which I recommend to explore every leg of morocco as each city has a new cultural experience

We must respect of culture of any country but if you see the services you will feel harassment. No easy , consuming times unnecessary and there are some in systems.

Pays de contrastes et de paradoxes , la corruption n’est que la conséquence de la pauvreté.le Maroc est un beau pays et on peut  y vivre dès lors que l’on a intégré ses codes et sa culture , cela peut être long et coûteux mais ça en vaut la peine , la gentillesse des Marocains malgré tout est véritable .

To avoid any misunderstandings - I am not encouraging anyone to think they can do whatever they want or get away with anything in Morocco by paying money. Money will certainly help you a lot in Morocco, but I have never suggested, nor ever will, to break the country's laws.

But the truth of the matter is, while Morocco maybe a Muslim country, money is more important than religion, halal and haram, and laws in Morocco. Turning a blind eye is quite normal when money is involved.

Take the lengthily marriage procedure for example, since it's a topic often discussed on this forum. If you want a faster, smoother, and simpler process, putting money into it will do this. In general, if you want to be taken seriously and your requests handled with care and respect, you know what you need to do!

francoislherm wrote:

Pays de contrastes et de paradoxes , la corruption n’est que la conséquence de la pauvreté.le Maroc est un beau pays et on peut  y vivre dès lors que l’on a intégré ses codes et sa culture , cela peut être long et coûteux mais ça en vaut la peine , la gentillesse des Marocains malgré tout est véritable .

This is the Anglophone forum. If you wish to speak French, the correct place is below:

https://www.expat.com/forum/viewforum.php?id=4050

This observation tends to ignore the complexity of the Moroccan society and culture. It is important to note that money worship has been a signature of western cultures before it inflicts the rest of the world in the post-globalization era. Moroccans are known to be socially intelligent and keen on pleasing the visitor, the stranger and the guest. In my opinion, Your experience has to be analyzed within its context and in relation to its settings. The aim is to have a better understanding of this diverse and unique environment you chose to settle in.

Nothing has been ignored. My views are supported by facts about their criminal conduct in pursuit of money, in and outside their country. I will keep it brief with a few examples:

Morocco is the country with the highest number of convicts in EU jails

Denmark:

"Men of Yugoslav origin and men originating in Turkey, Pakistan, Somalia and Morocco are associated with high crime-indexes, ranging between 187 and 205, which translate to crime rates about double the country's average."

Norway:

"The overall probability that a person living in Norway would be convicted for a felony (Norwegian: forbrytelse) was increased by about 0.5 percentage points for the immigrant compared to non-immigrant populations for felonies. The incidence was especially high among immigrants from Kosovo, Morocco, Somalia, Iraq, Iran and Chile, and reached more than 2% in all these groups. "

Italy:

"According to the ISPI, the Italian prison population in 2018 counted 59655 and of those 34% were foreigners, with the largest groups coming from Morocco."

Germany:

"The study's authors noted that there were great differences between different refugee groups. Refugees from North African countries Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco constituted 0.9% of refugees but represented 17.1% of violent crime refugee suspects and 31% of robbery refugee suspects.

The biggest group involved in pick-pocketing is Moroccans."

Netherlands:

According to a report commissioned by Justice Minister Ernst Hirsch Ballin, 63% of the 447 teenagers convicted of serious crime are children of parents born outside the Netherlands. All these cases concern crime for which the maximum jail sentence is longer than eight years, such as robbery with violence, extortion, arson, public acts of violence, sexual assault, manslaughter and murder. The ethnic composition of the perpetrators was: native Dutch – 37%; Moroccans – 14%.

More than half of Moroccan-Dutch male youths aged 18 to 24 years in Rotterdam have ever been investigated by the police, as compared to close to a quarter of native male youths. Eighteen percent of foreign-born young people aged from 18 to 24 have been investigated for crimes.

Individuals with a Moroccan background were, not taking their age into account, almost six times as likely to be suspected for a crime compared to the native Dutch."

Sources:

Immigration and Crime

EU Observer

This is your observation, my observation resently Germany and France genocide in Africa, Hitler killed millions of Yahudi, recetly whole europe waching Palestine on TV genocide by Israel. Go to past history europian how they killed each others and still killing in the name of terrorism. Legal cheating start from Europe like non refundable air tickets, hotel booking and etc. France stopped medical supply to Italy while European union in one.  Hate crime by Charlie Hebdo but french do not have eye glasses or intentionally doing against Muslims. Religion free in European countries how we don't know?

These stats might be true but quite frankly not much difference from other countries.

“The government of Morocco’s 2020 Crime Rate Report highlighted an 8.6% decrease in violent crimes in 2019, noting that law enforcement ultimately resolved 90% of cases. The report also noted increased efforts to combat criminal networks, particularly those involved in illegal immigration and forgery.“

CrimeIndex for Morocco is around 48, USA 47 & France 47 so there is not much difference between any of the western world.

However Morocco ranked safer for tourist than most EU countries.

Tourism: Morocco Safer Than France, Germany, United Kingdom

Morocco ranked 28th out of 140 countries in terms of safety and security for tourists.

In terms of safety and security, Morocco came ahead of a number of popular tourist destinations, such as Germany (41st), the United Kingdom (45th), and France (51st).


Morocco is among the top 50 countries globally for business environment (38th), prioritization of travel and tourism (26th), price competitiveness (46th), environmental sustainability (44th), and cultural resources (47th).

The official report also recognized Morocco as the country that has improved the most in the region in terms of business environment (38th globally) and air transport infrastructure (58th).

These figures are for end of 2019.

Morocco economy also runs on tourism so safety is number one. Walking around in Morocco is safe yes walking in back streets away from public can be dangerous just like taking the wrong turning in the USA or United Kingdom. Or roaming the streets of Italy and arriving at the train station in Paris early morning. No one would recommend doing this at hours where is unsafe.

The only difference is in Morocco you will find the police and special unit roaming the streets for the protection of the people. Especially for tourist.

As for surveillance the EU and USA require the assistance of morocco who have conducted many operation to help the world crack down on safety matters.

So to say Morocco is unsafe compared to other is incorrect.

Living in Morocco has its challenges. And many improvements are needed and are happening. Just like improvements are needed in the West.

So anyone looking to visit Morocco should not be put of with negative comments. Come with a open mind always use your brain and don’t just trust anyone behave like you would back at home. Respect people and keep away from any trouble. The views and paces to visit in Morocco will
Surly amaze you and most of all just enjoy your stay.

XB23 wrote:

Nothing has been ignored. My views are supported by facts about their criminal conduct in pursuit of money, in and outside their country. I will keep it brief with a few examples:

Morocco is the country with the highest number of convicts in EU jails

Denmark:

"Men of Yugoslav origin and men originating in Turkey, Pakistan, Somalia and Morocco are associated with high crime-indexes, ranging between 187 and 205, which translate to crime rates about double the country's average."

Norway:

"The overall probability that a person living in Norway would be convicted for a felony (Norwegian: forbrytelse) was increased by about 0.5 percentage points for the immigrant compared to non-immigrant populations for felonies. The incidence was especially high among immigrants from Kosovo, Morocco, Somalia, Iraq, Iran and Chile, and reached more than 2% in all these groups. "

Italy:

"According to the ISPI, the Italian prison population in 2018 counted 59655 and of those 34% were foreigners, with the largest groups coming from Morocco."

Germany:

"The study's authors noted that there were great differences between different refugee groups. Refugees from North African countries Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco constituted 0.9% of refugees but represented 17.1% of violent crime refugee suspects and 31% of robbery refugee suspects.

The biggest group involved in pick-pocketing is Moroccans."

Netherlands:

According to a report commissioned by Justice Minister Ernst Hirsch Ballin, 63% of the 447 teenagers convicted of serious crime are children of parents born outside the Netherlands. All these cases concern crime for which the maximum jail sentence is longer than eight years, such as robbery with violence, extortion, arson, public acts of violence, sexual assault, manslaughter and murder. The ethnic composition of the perpetrators was: native Dutch – 37%; Moroccans – 14%.

More than half of Moroccan-Dutch male youths aged 18 to 24 years in Rotterdam have ever been investigated by the police, as compared to close to a quarter of native male youths. Eighteen percent of foreign-born young people aged from 18 to 24 have been investigated for crimes.

Individuals with a Moroccan background were, not taking their age into account, almost six times as likely to be suspected for a crime compared to the native Dutch."

Sources:

Immigration and Crime

EU Observer

Good to see you again XB23, But these are not real statistics and you can't rely on everything that is written in Wikipedia or various studies done by individuals on behalf of some institutes. Think about a study that done by a Moroccan institute concerning the same topic, would it look like these that you have posted above? 

I personally have seen lot of errors or deliberately made "mistakes" only to justify the author's view or agenda on various studies, blogs, Wikipedia etc. like we all are doing here on this thread, all participants of this thread are already biased, aren't we?

However few facts that one can take into consideration are;

1. Some of these "Moroccans" could be from some other countries who took Moroccan identity, I have met people like that here in Europe.

2. Some of them could be victims of mixed marriages, step sons or mixed race children who could not fit in to any culture, in other words not necessarily "the money chasing Moroccans" you are telling about.

3.  And you know why Moroccans are overrepresented in some countries you have posted? Because Moroccan immigrants (and other mentioned immigrants) are way more than the rest of the immigrant groups in those countries, so it is obvious that they come into the statistic as a large number, but for that matter it does not mean that they are worse criminals than others, even though "the studies" are screaming about it.

(And something else to think about is who knows if Moroccans are more tend to admit their crimes than to deny as others normally do, and waste time and money of court systems of respective countries, just a thought.)

However take a look at this video and think about how many crimes this British woman can be charged with https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFrrT5Ci86A and how many of these kind of incidents happen in Morocco in daily basis (these kind of things are very severe in the west because this Moroccan vendor is at work). But these kind of crimes never even be taking as serious matters and also obviously never will be prosecuted and therefore never come into any criminal statistic, not to talk about all sex crimes against Moroccan males who are under 18 years old, never will be reported and never come into any statistic.

If those incidents/crimes ever have been followed so seriously as the studies done by the people in the West that you have posted, then, Moroccan jail had been full of Westerners all the time. However a crime is a crime regardless of who is doing it, when and where.

I don't see any statistics or relevant evidence refuting and disproving my comments.

If you have any, feel free to post them here with a reference to the source.

I will be waiting - thanks.

Your comments that you are relying on, are only quotations from various target studies. And they are not real final up-to-date statistics published by any EU government. I only wanted to point it out for the readers of this thread to prevent them from falling in to any prejudicial ideas against Moroccans.

This is not a debate between you and me, that me to provide you with any evidence for anything. This is a forum that we all members leave only fact based information and not paper cuttings to support the information we leave here is true.

You know it is impossible for any government of the West to have a correct statistic of such a matter, because yesterday a Moroccan can be a Swede today or whatever, they take new nationality everyday.

And also the legal possibility to publish as the final official statistic of such a target statistic over a certain ethnic group is very low in EU. And there are also different ethnic groups among Moroccans. How does anyone identify who as who based on these target studies you have posted.

You see you bring bad reputation to all Moroccans because all you wanted was to prove that you were right at the beginning of this thread. Is it worth to destroy the reputation of all Moroccans? 

Please Note that I am not expecting any replies or I have no intention or interest to keep going with this type of things. I made my point, the one who understand it, does it and for others, there is nothing I can do. Cheers!

Leave Morocco and Moroccan alone that’s all I will say. I’m not going to go into details with you. You might be Algerian, Israeli or one of this people who are members of this group or organisations that’s all they care about is distorting this planet. You put numbers and ext as if you are the president of US that we all know that they all lie. Then u sign at the end bringing some sort of a serious resource as if you do work there. Don’t forget I can contact them and tell that you are for them in this app. Let’s what will happen then!!

In response to what has been said regarding the reliability of my comments, I will let the reader decide if it is reliable or not. Here is what I have relied on:

Denmark:

Based on - Danmarks Statistik (Statistics Denmark)

This is a Danish governmental organization under the Ministry for Economic and Interior Affairs. The organization is responsible for creating statistics on the Danish society.

Homepage: http://www.dst.dk
Evidence used: http://www.dst.dk/Site/Dst/Udgivelser/G … d=indv2015

Norway:

Based on - Statistisk sentralbyrå (Statistics Norway, abbreviated to SSB)

This is the Norwegian statistics bureau.

Homepage: https://www.ssb.no/en
Evidence used: https://www.ssb.no/sosiale-forhold-og-k … 6035d6f0d8

Italy:

Based on - Istituto per gli Studi di Politica Internazionale.

Germany:

Based on - A study in 2018 carried out by Zurich University of Applied Sciences, commissioned and sponsored by the German Government.

Netherlands:

Based on - A report commissioned by Justice Minister Ernst Hirsch Ballin.

Based on - Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek (Statistics Netherlands)

This is a Dutch governmental institution that gathers statistical information about the Netherlands.

Homepage: https://www.cbs.nl/en-gb
Evidence used: https://www.cbs.nl/-/media/_pdf/2016/47/ji2016s_web.pdf

sanaa1001 wrote:

You might be Algerian, Israeli or one of this people who are members of this group or organisations

As a Moroccan, you have far more in common to Israeli's than me. Given that many of them came from Morocco.

Your country's relationship with Israel has been good, still is excellent, and only getting better and stronger with recent agreements made between the two.

This is the summary of what it says in the Denmark statistic.

All the statistic is about immigrants age 15-79 in Denmark in year 2014 only. Page 94 to 103 of the PDF is about criminality. The summary of the those 9 pages is like this;

83% of all crimes were committed by Danish people. 4% of them were committed by immigrants from other western countries and 13% of them were committed by rest of the immigrants.   

There is a criminality index of 100 in average and the index for Danish people was ca 98.

The highest index was ca 257 for Lebanese and Palestine immigrants.

Immigrants from former Yugoslavian countries, Turkey, Pakistan and Morocco had ca 200 in index.

The lowest was 32 in index for immigrants from USA. And almost all the non western countries were over 100 but below 200 in index.

These 13%of total crimes among all the non western immigrants are as following;
15038 committed by immigrants born outside Denmark and 6973 by immigrants born in Denmark and altogether 22011 crimes were committed by non western immigrants and 13669 out them were traffic violations speeding, driving without license etc.   

Then we have remaining 8342 crimes of total for all 423260 non western country immigrants (132927 of them were born in Denmark). That was the real criminal numbers for year 2014 in Denmark among non western immigrants, ca 0.019 crimes per a non western immigrant. Then some of them were violence related crimes such as barfights, pushing and threatening to kill (but never really means) etc. some of them were committed by activists with different interests such as environmental, political etc. and also some sex crimes and so on...

The point is only some of them were stealing or cheating related crimes to gain something for the "criminal" such as money.

And how many of them were really committed by Moroccans remains unknown till the end of time. However anyone can easily see that, the number simply can not be big anyway, as the so called "source" of the member XB23 was screaming and he was relying on to justify his prejudicial statement on Moroccans "My views are supported by facts about their criminal conduct in pursuit of money, in and outside their country."   

If anyone want to breakdown Norwegian statistics also, just let me know! But Italy, Germany and Netherlands statistics someone else has to do, but I am sure that they all are too manipulated as this one.

Nevertheless the "refuting and disproving my comments" part XB23 asked for is pretty much over now, I took my time and did it for the sake of readers that they would not have any doubt, so XB23 please next time rely on real facts so that other members of this forum don't need to waste their time. Cheers!

XB23 As much as your views and comments are appreciated and everyone is entitled to there own views as other users including my self have pointed out the real facts and statistics we would appreciate you not posting data that is not relevant or correct.

Reading you comments throughout the site I feel you have a dislike for Morocco and also the people which reflects in your comments. People are getting defensive and also upset as a results

How often do you visit Morocco? Have you lived in Morocco? Had bad experiences in Morocco? No one is here to argue with you. Please feel free t share your experience and dates when and frequencies of your trips to Morocco as these are experience people would like to hear.

Thank you.

I knew they would be back, although they claimed to "have no intention or interest to keep going with this type of things" and yet proceed to keep going and even unhappy about their time being wasted on it. Bizarre, but lets carry on regardless. I have not, and will not insert any of my own interpretation of what is on the official Government Statistics source that I am using, nor attempt to distort any facts, and as usual, leave it to the reader to think and decide for themselves. Here is exactly what is shown:

- "83 pct. of all crime is committed by persons of Danish origin. Immigrants and descendants from western countries account for 4 per cent. and from non-western countries for 13 per cent.

Men of Yugoslav origin and men originating in Turkey, Morocco, and Pakistan has all high indexes that are around 200; about twice as high as the average. The lowest crime rate has male immigrants and descendants with originating in the United States. Their index is 32 and is thus far below the average for all men, as per. definition is 100.

One of the reasons people commit crimes is greed. To gain something.

- Lets look at table 6.5, which is about 15-79-year-olds guilty of crime by country of origin. Under Africa, we can see 2 countries. Somalia and Morocco. Lets look at the breakdown for the crimes:

Somalia has 40% under criminal law, which is the highest of the countries surveyed, and Morocco has 26%. The rest falls under special and traffic laws. Violation of traffic law includes not paying for insurance for example, or failing to stop after an accident etc.

- Here is the tables:







So this was about Denmark, which as shown, Moroccans have a high index, about double the average. I don't see any response to the rest - Norway, Italy, Germany, or Netherlands.

I never expected from you to sink so low, that trying to manipulate a report that already had been manipulated, what is with you? Can't you see that the report is only an annual report about immigrants in Denmark for year 2014 only? And criminality happened to be only one of those six aspects they have taken into their report that you try to highlight as it is all about it. And judge once and for all based on numbers for year 2014 which by the way is not as you highlight it?

I know one's ego can blind oneself sometimes but there should be a limit for everything otherwise it is not only harm the person in question, it also can drag the quality down of the surrounding of that person.

If any member who at least has 10 normal posts ask for Norwegian report I will break it down, And I will ask a Dutch speaking member to break down the Dutch report as well. And for other countries you have to post links that we can open. Or simply just admit that judging all Moroccans and tar every Moroccan with the same brush was a mistake you did and move on with it, no body is perfect! everyone can make mistakes here and there, no one here is judging you for that.