The 16th Conference of Interior Ministers of the Western Mediterranean (CIMO) has welcomed the Moroccan strategy on migration management and the fight against terrorism and organized crime.

Addressing the conference, Drais Cherki, the Moroccan Interior Minister, focused on the new migration policy, initiated by King Mohammed VI and Morocco’s efforts in the fight against terrorism and transnational organized crime, calling on member countries of CIMO to lay the foundations for a genuine partnership based on shared responsibility.

Morocco's interior minister also called for the adoption of a coherent security policy, concerted among states through the establishment of appropriate mechanisms including the reactivation of the Monitoring Group and national focal points.

A CIMO declaration, posted by the Moroccan news agency, hailed as "unprecedented" and "daring" initiatives launched by Morocco in terms of the humanitarian management of the immigration influx.

The conference, which was held in Lisbon, Portugal, also regretted the tragic accidents that recently occurred in Mediterranean waters and took the lives of many migrants.

The ministers reiterated the importance of having a balanced and comprehensive approach to tackle the migration problem.

Participants agreed that organized crimes have become even more organized and are being carried out through complicated networks.

The declaration also called on CIMO states to act to bring closer view points regarding the fight against terrorism, social justice and development.

The CIMO also stressed the need to seriously tackle the phenomenon of foreign terrorists and encouraged information exchange among them, particularly about persons likely to join terrorist groups in conflict zones.

The Conference of Ministers of Western Mediterranean, created within the 5 + 5 Dialogue is an informal forum for multilateral dialogue between the countries of the northern shore of the Mediterranean (Spain, France, Italy, Malta and Portugal) and Maghreb (Morocco, Libya, Algeria and Mauritania, Tunisia) on topics related to security cooperation including the fight against terrorism, drug trafficking, illegal immigration and crisis management.

Morocco had already hosted two meetings of CIMO, respectively in April 1996 and October 2005.