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Rabat – A group of 160 Moroccans stranded abroad landed in Beni Mellal, central Morocco, from the Spanish city of Seville on Saturday as part of the ongoing repatriation operations to bring back citizens stuck overseas.
The Moroccans onboard the June 27 repatriation flight included 20 pregnant women and 10 newborns.
Upon their arrival, local authorities greeted the returnees, who underwent screening tests as part of the preventive measures to contain the spread of COVID-19.
Authorities then bussed the repatriated Moroccans through to several hotels in Beni Mellal for a nine-day quarantine period and medical monitoring.
Another 633 citizens arrived Saturday at the Marrakech Menara International Airport after spending over three months abroad due to closed borders.
Four Royal Air Maroc (RAM) flights each carried between 157 and 159 Moroccan citizens who had been stuck in France and Germany.
Maghreb Arab Press (MAP) said that around 1,550 citizens returned to Morocco via the Marrakech Menara Airport between June 26-27 onboard 10 flights from the UK, France, Senegal, Cote d’Ivoire, the Netherlands, and Germany.
All of the returnees will spend nine days in confinement before joining their families to ensure the safety of their relatives and to receive COVID-19 treatment in case of an infection.
The Moroccan government scheduled 30 flights between June 21-27 to repatriate 4,644 Moroccans stranded in 17 countries.
Hundreds of Moroccans stranded abroad have also returned home from the Spanish enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla, Algeria, mainland Spain, the Canary Islands, Turkey, Mauritania, Tunisia, the UAE, Italy, and Belgium since reparation operations began in May.
The total number of Moroccans stranded overseas is estimated at 32,000.
Morocco is planning to repatriate more stranded nationals between June 28 and July 4. The flights will bring back citizens from Germany, Egypt, Turkey, and the Gulf countries, among others.
