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Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia: How the States Are Organizing Themselves in the Face of the Russian Offensive in Ukraine

For the most part students, nationals of Maghreb countries living in Ukraine find themselves trapped in a conflict that does not concern them. What measures have their States put in place to assist or repatriate them?

On February 22, when the escalation of tensions between Russia and Ukraine made the world fear an imminent military conflagration, the Tunisian Ministry of Foreign Affairs considered that the situation was under control while inviting its nationals in Ukraine to remain in contact with the Tunisian Chancellery in Moscow. 

Less than 48 hours after this notice, the first shots caused panic within the Tunisian community. They are 1,500, mainly students, to feel left to their own devices, at the heart of a war that does not concern them.

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Shipping from Romania

Some were repatriated as a precaution by their families, but most remained at home in Odesa and Kharkiv, two cities targeted by the first Russian fire, according to Tarek Aloui, president of the Association of Tunisians of Ukraine, who insists on the need for rapid repatriation to Tunisia.

In the meantime, he invites Tunisians present in Ukraine to stay at home, to make themselves known to the embassy in Moscow โ€“ Tunisia does not have an embassy in Kyiv โ€“, to stay in touch via social networks, and to have always carry their identity documents with them.

WITH 10,000 NATIONALS, MOROCCANS REPRESENT THE SECOND-LARGEST STUDENT COMMUNITY IN UKRAINE

Instructions that would facilitate the organization of a collective departure despite the closure of Ukrainian airspace. The Tunisian government is currently negotiating with Romania for authorization to transport Tunisian nationals by bus from the Ukrainian border to a Romanian airport from where they could take off for Tunis.

In the longer term, Tunisian students could see their future compromised, as the Ukrainian authorities have already informed foreign students who leave the territory that they will not be allowed to return and re-enroll in faculties.

When, on February 12, Vladimir Putin denounced โ€œAmerican hysteriaโ€ about a potential Russian invasion of Ukraine, Morocco nonetheless took the situation seriously. With 10,000 nationals, Moroccans represent the second-largest student community in Ukraine.

In a statement, the Moroccan embassy in Kyiv, therefore, called on Moroccan nationals to leave the country “for their safety” and Moroccan citizens wishing to travel to Ukraine to postpone their trip.

Special flights

The Moroccan consular services have also set up three telephone numbers for nationals in need of assistance, without however planning any specific evacuation operation.

As a reminder, from the end of January, many students expressed their desire to return to the kingdom in the face of the possibility of a Russian attack. The Moroccan embassy in Kyiv replied that their repatriation was dependent on the reopening of the Moroccan borders โ€“ again open since February 7.

Royal Air Maroc (RAM) and Air Arabia have set up special flights (Casablanca-Kyiv and Tanger-Kyiv) from February 15 to make up for the lack of direct commercial flights between Morocco and Ukraine.

A DEPARTURE FROM UKRAINE IMPLIES, FOR MOROCCAN, ALGERIAN, AND TUNISIAN STUDENTS, A PURE AND SIMPLE EXPULSION FROM THEIR UNIVERSITY.

Moroccans wishing to return had to pay 4,700 dirhams (443 euros) for RAM and 4,100 dirhams (387 euros) for Air Arabia. On February 16, Valerian Shuvaev, Ambassador of the Russian Federation in Rabat, commented on these measures admitting that “the Moroccan decision is sovereign”, but that “the call for collective withdrawal is of incomprehensible logic, politically and humanely”. . But the closure of Ukrainian airspace is now compromising these operations. Moroccan diplomatic personnel is still on site.

Limit travel

Since then, several hundred students have returned home, relieved but very worried about their future. Indeed, a departure from Ukraine implies, for Moroccan, Algerian, and Tunisian students, a pure and simple expulsion from their university, without hope of re-enrolling there.

The Algerian embassy in Ukraine, for its part, called on its nationals, who number 10,000, to “show vigilance, respecting the instructions given by the Ukrainian authorities, in particular those related to the need to stay at home and to travel only when absolutely necessary.

On February 12, the Algerian Embassy in Kyiv informed Algerian nationals of the establishment of a toll-free number and recommended that they take protective measures and leave the country if necessary.

The embassy has not been evacuated and the Algerians who joined it today have been instructed to limit their movements and to protect themselves.

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