Rabat – Morocco’s General Directorate of National Security (DGSN) launched Monday an “exceptional” operation to create electronic national identity cards (CINE) for members of the Moroccan diaspora who are confined in Morocco due to the state of emergency.
The procedure considers Moroccans residing abroad (MREs) who are required to renew their biometric passports to return from Morocco to their countries of residence, a statement from the DGSN said on June 1.
The DGSN statement said the identity card is a “basic and reference document in the procedure for renewing biometric passports that expired during the period when the Kingdom’s border posts were closed” due to the COVID-19-induced emergency state.
The DGSN vowed to make efforts to mobilize all concerned facilities to successfully carry out the operation.
Security services also began coordinating operations with government stakeholders to facilitate obtaining certificates of consular registration.
The DGSN recalled that first and second-year baccalaureate students also benefited from the same procedure as they will need the ID cards to sit for final exams scheduled in July and September.
The campaign for students commenced on May 18, aiming to provide students with CINEs, a prerequisite for baccalaureate exams.
The police emphasized its commitment to meeting the state of emergency conditions as well as social distancing instructions to preserve the safety of citizens.
The new DGSN operation could signal that Morocco will help its citizens wishing to return to their countries of residence. The repatriation of Moroccans stranded abroad, however, is still up in the air.
Morocco has been under lockdown since March 19, but the country closed borders a week prior, leaving more than 32,000 Moroccans stranded abroad.
The government’s lack of mobilization to repatriate citizens angered stranded Moroccans, who have been heavily criticizing the government.
