BY: W. Shadid, 9-3-2009
Presumably every one did notice the revival of the debate and reactions on the so-called Moroccan ‘name list’. Although outsiders may consider this matter as trivial, nonetheless Moroccan parents and Dutch and Belgian politicians as well reacted strongly and emotionally. First names may seem trivial but are actually not, even though Shakespear wrote in 1594 in Romeo and Juliet the famous words ‘What’s in a name? A rose by any other name would smell as sweet’.

First names are parts of the personal identity
Obviously Shakspear was not referring to the fore names of children, but to Romeo and Juliet’s family names that hindered their immortal love.
Shakspear’s historical wisdom seems not to be relevant in contemporary Morocco, as the Moroccan government is aware of the fact that fore names are given to children in order to accentuate for instance family, ethnic origin, ideology or admiration for a well-known person. A fore name is unmistakably not merely a label of identification. It is an intrinsic part of the parent’s identity and later of that the children.
Many countries in the world have laws to regulate the naming of newborns. This is generally meant to prevent parents from burdening their children with names that might induce social embarrassment, or hinder their future chances and perspectives. For this reason most countries have legislations which also allow for changing of first names and even family names. As a rule, such laws are mainly used to protect the children’s interests and not for the benefit of the state or any other political constellation.

Ineffective responses
The reaction of Dutch and Belgian politicians to recent debates on the matter of the Moroccan name list can be characterized as spastic and is comparable with a fascinating spectacle: inexpressive, evasive and ineffective. Statements of the Dutch Minister for Foreign Affairs Verhagen and those of Tofik Dibi, Member of the Dutch Parliament, are illustrative in this respect. The former stated that it is not obligatory to use the name list, or to register their children at the Moroccan embassy. The second politician said that the list should be returned immediately to Rabat. The response of Aboutaleb, the mayor of the city of Rotterdam, is also neither sensible nor serves the interests of the parents. In this context he declared that if he would find such a list in the city hall of Rotterdam, he will personally burn it.
Belgium politicians equally made meaningless statements and defended non effective measures in this regard. In the municipal Council of Antwerp it has been decided not to handover the name list to Moroccan-Belgians who come to register their newborns any longer.

Using or not using the list: that is not the question
It is obvious that the issue does not concern the question whether municipalities in both countries actually do or do not use the name list mentioned. The question as such is trivial, because if the answer is affirmative, it is used to protect the parents from future administrative problems in their country of origin, and not to comply to the Moroccan government’s demands. On the other hand, ignoring the use of the name list such as recommended by the above mentioned politicians may well saddle the parents with problems in the future. From the very beginning, the recommendation not to register the newborns at the embassies was for most parents, and still is, no option at all.
The problem relates mainly to the Moroccan legislation which prohibits embassy staff to register non-Arabic sounding names and names that doe not follow certain spellings rules. The consequence is that a non registered child cannot qualify for the Moroccan citizenship in the future and therefore he or she might be hindered to claim a future inheritance in the country of his or her parents for instance.

Internal affair?
This procedure of Moroccan naming cannot be answered satisfactorily by stating that it is a matter that concerns Moroccan only, as the Moroccan Minister for Foreign Affairs did. Such an answer may be qualified as the dictatorship of the autonomy. Internal affairs can also be, and in fact have always been, contested by the international community in case those matters violate human rights or international treaties, such as the right to a cultural identity, language and religion. As mentioned before, a first name is an essential component of the desired cultural identity of the individual.

Coordinated action
Fighting against this form of intervention in the freedom of citizens requires more than the prohibition of the use of the above mentioned name list as is recommended by Dutch and Belgian politicians. The issue is of fundamental importance as it concerns citizens’ freedom in general. Fighting effectively against such measures requires a coordinated European intervention at the ministerial level. Only then is exercising pressure on the Moroccan government to render the name giving rules more flexible becomes possible.
Moreover, this issue affects the interests of all new Europeans of Moroccan origin, and not only the Berbers amongst them. The same legislation also prohibits Moroccans of Arab origin to choose for example a Western sounding name for their newborn.
Unfortunately, the ongoing debate on the name list affair has been mainly placed within the ethnic division between Berbers and Arabs which exist in the country. However, narrowing the issue leads only to division and at the same time weakens the resistance against this type of state intervention which curtail the freedoms of citizens. All political responses so far have proven too weak and have unfortunately to be considered as a victory for the Moroccan government. In this case, the proverb ‘unity is power’ is applicable