By Zainab Calcuttawala
Rabat -A new report by global consulting company Henley and Partners ranks Morocco 78th on the number of destinations its citizens can go to with minimal-to-no travel restrictions. Moroccans can currently travel to 59 places without obtaining physical visas.
The report, released on Thursday, ranked 219 destinations, including countries and territories, based on the number of countries its residents could visit visa-free or with an e-visa—a travel authorization issued electronically without a physical label on the traveler’s passport.
Germany tops the list of countries who citizens can visit a high number of countries without a visa. Germans can visit 177 countries visa-free.
Germany is followed by Sweden in second place (176), then Finland, France, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom rank are tied in third place. Next comes Belgium, Denmark, Netherlands, and the United States. In fifth place are Austria, Japan and Singapore. In sixth place are Canada, Ireland, South Korea, Luxembourg, Norway, Portugal, and Switzerland. Greece and New Zealand rank seventh, while Australia ranks eight, Malta in ninth, and Hungary, Czech Republic, Iceland tied in tenth place.
All 22 members of the Arab League were listed in the rankings. Citizens of the United Arab Emirates (38th), Kuwait (57th), and Qatar (60th) had the most freedom of mobility amongst Arabs, whereas Syrians (100th), Somalis (101st), and Iraqis (102nd) were the most constrained. Morocco ranked eighth amongst Arab countries.
The countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)—the UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, and Saudi Arabia—were the first six Arab countries in the rankings. Tunisia, Morocco, Mauritania, and Algeria—the countries of the Arab Maghreb Union—closely followed behind.
At a meeting between the countries’ tourism ministers in Oman, a GCC official told reporters that a new visa authorizing travelers to visit all six GCC countries could be possible by mid-2016. The visa would be similar to the Schengen visa issued by the European Union, which allows visa-holders to travel freely within EU member-states and four other countries in and near Europe.
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