Morocco’s decision to suspend its flights with nearly forty countries was not followed by support measures and repatriation of Moroccans stranded in the countries concerned.
The Moroccan government must move, and urgently! Moroccan citizens are currently experiencing a real humanitarian crisis in other places. Decisions to close borders with nearly 40 countries around the world have prevented thousands of Moroccans from returning to their country. Moroccans who were not necessarily on vacation or settled in these countries. Several had gone there for professional or health reasons. The rate of flight suspensions has accelerated over the past two months, in view of the changing epidemiological situation around the world. The decision to suspend flights with France and Spain from March 30, 2021, created a wave of panic among Moroccans who had gone there, especially when we know that the government is announcing the suspension of flights that 24 hours before.
As with last year, these brutal decisions left thousands of Moroccans who had to return home stunned. Contacted by us, a Moroccan stranded in Turkey gives us a blackboard of what nearly 200 of his fellow citizens have endured since February 22, 2021, the date of suspension of flights with Turkey.
Prey of mafia networks
“These are real tragedies happening in Turkey. Some have come for a few days for health reasons and have been left for almost two months without money, without food, and without shelter. With about twenty Moroccans, we pitched tents under a bridge where we have been sleeping for over a month in freezing cold. During the day, we do the round, we try to find odd jobs to be able to eat our hunger. Our families in Morocco and Moroccans living in Turkey help us from time to time, but it is not enough. I do not understand why our country refuses to save us from this outrageous situation. I feel betrayed, ”laments our source.
He also confides, with regret, that several Moroccan women have turned into prostitutes in order to survive. “They were recruited by mafia prostitution networks, led for the most part by Syrians. It is a crime in which our government is complicit”, laments our source. Mafia networks specializing in illegal immigration have scammed several Moroccans by stealing thousands of euros, without keeping their promise to return them to Morocco.
Attempts to contact the Consulate General of Morocco in Istanbul were unsuccessful. While the Consulate had shown strong mobilization and responsiveness, for the case of the thousands of Moroccans stranded in 2020, this year, it shone with its incomprehensible silence. “Already, the consulate is located in a district quite far from the city center. It costs us an arm and a leg to get there when we don’t even have enough to eat. When we make the trip, they refuse to receive us”, specifies our interlocutor.
Recall that last year, Moroccans stranded abroad organized several sit-ins and demonstrations demanding their repatriation. Their number was much larger. This year, they would be only a few thousand to live this nightmare across the world. One more reason for the authorities to repatriate them quickly. For those stranded in Turkey, for example, a single flight would suffice. And bitterness is strong when these 200 Moroccans see Turkish Airlines flights scheduled to repatriate Turks stranded in Morocco. Planes leaving empty.
As with Turkey, several other countries such as France and Spain are currently repatriating, en masse, their nationals stranded in Morocco. The Moroccan government, an accomplice in the misery and social tragedies of thousands of Moroccans abroad, is turning a deaf ear. Until when?.
