Morocco's Crime Rate Drops 9%

Over the first nine months of 2015, Morocco's crime rate dropped by more than 9% compared to the same period in 2014

Charki Draiss, the Junior Interior Minister, announced the figures at a briefing before the parliament’s interior committee on Monday.

Draiss told the lawmakers that the number of overall crimes has dropped from 211,576 in the first nine months of 2014, to 192,947 in the same period in 2015.

He said a significant decrease has been registered in crimes related to sexual assault, which dropped by 16.5%, while breaches to public decency have declined by 28% in 2015.

He hailed the efforts of security services in fighting all forms of crime, in order to ensure the security and tranquillity of citizens and pointed out that Morocco has substantially increase its efforts in curbing the activities of human trafficking networks thanks to the mobilisation of 13,000 law enforcement agents.

The Interior Ministry’s positive report on crime reduction came out at the same time as a report of the British Foreign Office which ranks Morocco among safest countries around the world.

In the 2015 map of the foreign Office released on the occasion of World Travel Market (WTM), held in London on November 2-5, Morocco is ranked among the world’s safest destinations for British tourists and emerges as the only safe country in the MENA region.

The term MENA is an acronym referring to the Middle East and North Africa region. The term MENA covers an extensive region, extending from Morocco to Iran, including all Middle Eastern and Maghreb countries.

Morocco is rated amongst the low-risk countries and ranks high alongside European and North American nations and leads the Arab world.

With the exception of Morocco, the other MENA countries are ranked among the countries not recommended by the Foreign Office.

The UK is one of the biggest suppliers of tourists in the world with nearly 60 million tourists a year.

Since 2013, Morocco became the first African destination from the UK, ranking far ahead of Egypt, Tunisia and South Africa.

See also: Putting Moroccan Crime in Perspective

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