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Morocco is planning to repatriate more than 4,600 stranded Moroccans during this week via 30 Royal Air Maroc flights, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccans Living Abroad Nasser Bourita said on Monday.
Speaking at the House of Representatives, Bourita said that all RAM aircrafts will be mobilized to carry out the repatriation operations, indicating that only two-thirds of these planes’ seating capacity will be utilized. «This will allow us to increase the number of returnees to 50%», he said.
«For the period between Sunday 21 to Sunday 27 June, 30 flights have been scheduled. The operation will cover several countries, including the ones that house a big number of Moroccans such as France», he announced.
According to him, these countries are Turkey, Serbia, Hungary, Austria, Mauritania, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates, France, Portugal, Switzerland, Poland, the Netherlands, Senegal, Belgium, Italy and the United Kingdom. The minister revealed that 4,644 people will benefit from these repatriation flights.
«By the end of the week, we will have repatriated 7,800 Moroccans stranded abroad», he said, adding that next week, the operation will continue with Moroccans stranded in Germany and Egypt, the Gulf countries, Turkey and other countries.
As for Moroccans stranded in Asia and Latin America, Nasser Bourita announced that the authorities are thinking of «creating a hub in Istanbul, Doha or Paris, to regroup and then repatriate them». «We will also use the planes which will come to repatriate foreign nationals from Morocco to bring back Moroccans. This is particularly the case for Canada and the United States», he said.
Operation Marhaba 2020 will not take place
The repatriation operation «is expected to accelerate», the Minister said, promising, «that the number of returnees will increase» in coming weeks. «We will mostly target vulnerable citizens, knowing that Morocco does not have the means to repatriate 70 or 80,000 stranded Moroccans. We are thinking of other ways for the others (...) and maybe have them pay for the costs of flights and tests», he stressed.
As for Operation Marhaba 2020, the minister noted that it is «a concept that involves preparation since April, coordination with countries and the intervention of several institutions».
«As a concept, the operation will not take place, because we did not prepare anything in April, while the European countries had their borders closed at the time. Now, for the return of Moroccans living abroad, this is completely normal and will depend on four conditions».
These conditions are: «the opening of international borders», «the measures put in place by transit countries, such as Spain and Italy», «the international epidemiological situation, and the health protocol for each person returning from abroad».
«Morocco has a clear protocol, with a compulsary nine-day quarantine and two PCR tests. This will impact the return operation», he said. «As a ministry, and until Morocco changes this protocol, any Moroccan or foreigner arriving in the kingdom must be subjected to it», he said.
