Sudanese made up 68 per cent of all new refugee and asylum-seeker registrations in Morocco for the first half of 2026, the UN refugee agency said in its latest factsheet on the country, covering April to June.
UNHCR's total population of concern in Morocco on 30 June included 23,615 people: 10,538 refugees and 13,077 asylum-seekers, compared to 23,365 at the end of March.
The agency attributed the increase to continued arrivals from Sudan, with an average of 233 people registering per month. UNHCR linked the rise to the ongoing conflict in Sudan, which has fuelled forced displacement across the region since 2023.
One in nine of all the new registrants were unaccompanied children, a ratio which UNHCR called an indication of increased protection risks among new arrivals.
UNHCR said Morocco had strengthened its role as a regional country of asylum at the crossroads of Mediterranean and Atlantic migration flows.
UNHCR described the country as an increasingly significant space for protection and inclusion amid regional instability, including the conflict in Sudan and displacement across the Sahel.
The agency works in Morocco through a branch office in Rabat and five decentralized Protection Antennas, set up in collaboration with the Moroccan Organization for Human Rights (OMDH). The antennas offer registration, documentation, counselling and protection services throughout the country's main regions.
UNHCR reported that in 2023, during the Global Refugee Forum, Morocco was an engaged participant, making six pledges on health, education, socio-economic inclusion, data, and humanized border management.
Moroccan refugee delegates participated in the 2023 and 2025 editions of the forum, the agency said.
Morocco is increasingly a place of destination, as well as a country of transit, for migrants and refugees fleeing war and instability across the African continent. This comes as a wider regional migration crisis develops, with conflict in Sudan and instability in the Sahel sending more and more people seeking asylum elsewhere.
