Inside the unpaid mission of Switzerland’s consul in Morocco

Women walk through the old Medina where shop owners wait for tourists, in Marrakech, Morocco. Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.

Series The Swiss honorary consuls, Episode 2:

Max Rosari’s role as Swiss honorary consul in Marrakech, in Morocco, mostly involves informing citizens. But sometimes he gets involved in quite tricky cases.

“Sometimes Swiss people with no means of support come to my office with their suitcases and ask for help,” he tells Swissinfo. In the more than three years he has been honorary consul in Marrakech, Max Rosari has had to help Swiss citizens in desperate need on a number of occasions.

“Normally, we’re not allowed to help them financially, but sometimes we break the rule,” says the 61-year-old former Bern resident with Italian roots. “I always say to myself that if this person were part of my family, I would like someone to help them,” he adds.

When such cases arise, the role of an honorary consul is to coordinate with the embassy. “The embassy then takes charge, and we carry out the work,” he explains.

An information office

Max Rosari has held the post as Swiss honorary consul in Marrakech, Morocco, for three-and-a-half years. courtoisie

From an official point of view, an honorary consul’s job is to represent Switzerland by “fostering relations between Switzerland and the host country and helping to strengthen Switzerland’s presence there”, according to the Swiss foreign ministry. The job also involves “maintaining contacts with the Swiss community abroad”.

In the field, for Max Rosari this means regular contact with the local authorities – which also opens doors for him professionally – or giving speeches, particularly at commemorations.

However, he says 90% of the time his role is to provide information to Swiss and Moroccan citizens who come to his office.

Most people come to him to apply for visas, sometimes several times a day. But he is not able to supply them. “That’s the job of the embassy in Rabat,” he says.

A voluntary commitment

These regular interruptions are sometimes difficult, as the honorary consul’s office is also his main workplace. Max Rosari is also an entrepreneur and IT developer. He runs his own businesses and develops software for televisions for hotels and hospitals alongside his unpaid work as honorary consul.

He does, however, receive an annual allowance of CHF6,500 ($8,000) to offset expenses.

On average, his activities as honorary consul keep him busy for a few hours a week, with some exceptions. “Not long ago, a Swiss man’s legal problem kept me busy for three days. But it’s precisely in these situations that we’re useful,” he says.

Enjoying being of service

The Bernese native particularly enjoys being able to help the Swiss in Marrakech. He estimates that around 70% of the Swiss in the region are retired. As a result, he often deals with passport renewal problems and, occasionally, deaths.

He says many of these people do not officially reside in Morocco but travel back and forth between the two countries. “These Swiss also need our services,” he says.

Officially, 1,599 Swiss citizens were living in Morocco at the end of 2024. In addition to the embassy in Rabat and Max Rosari in Marrakech, three other honorary consuls represent the Swiss government in Essaouira, Tangiers and Casablanca.

A demanding recruitment process

He has held the post for three-and-a-half years. Although he enjoys the job, he wasn’t looking for it initially: “I mixed in the Swiss circle of Marrakech, and its president thought I had the ideal profile. So, I applied.”

After a recruitment process that he describes as intensive, not least because it took place at the time of the Covid-19 pandemic, he took up his post in April 2022.

This first mandate will end in April 2026. He would like to continue a second one, “but that will depend on Bern”.

>> What is the role of honorary consuls? How do you become one? How many are there around the world?

Edited by Pauline Turuban. Translated from French by Simon Bradley/ts

Series The Swiss honorary consuls

• Episode 1: 1. Switzerland expands voluntary honorary consul network
• Episode 2: 2. Inside the unpaid mission of Switzerland’s consul in Morocco