Belgium: Third of Moroccans feel Muslim, 7% Belgian

Belgium: Third of Moroccans feel Muslim, 7% Belgian

Update: See here for more study results: Belgium: Who are the Belgian Moroccans?


More than a third of Moroccans in Belgium feel Muslim first, barely 7% identify with the Belgian nationality. Nevertheless, the majority is Belgian, according to a study by the King Baudouin Foundation, reports Belgian newspaper Le Soir. In collaboration with the King Baudouin Foundation, the University of Rabat questioned 400 people from the Moroccan community in Belgium.

Just a third of respondents (31.7%) have a work contract and a fifth (21%) receive unemployment benefits. The respondents invoke discrimination in order to explain their difficult integration into the work-market.

Women are less employed than men (38.3% compared to 55.4%). The number of inactive women, for family or other reasons, is 62%. More than half (53%) of the Belgian Moroccans interviewed live below the poverty line, particularly in Wallonia.

Belgian Moroccans prefer a non-mixed marriage. More than half of the respondents thinks it's good to have somebody come from their homeland for a marriage. 62% are against a marriage of a Muslim woman with a non-Muslims. Just 45% disapprove of the reverse.

Source: HLN (Dutch)