Rabat – Morocco continues to repatriate its citizens stranded abroad, with 304 more Moroccans arriving from Turkey last night. The stranded Moroccans finally landed at Marrakech-Menara airport on June 30, after months of waiting.
The repatriation operation deployed two planes from Morocco’s flag carrier, Royal Air Maroc (RAM), with 151 passengers on the first plane and 153 on the second.
With the most recent arrival, the Marrakech-Menara airport has so far received a total of 1,854 repatriated citizens from Turkey, on board of 12 flights.
Between June 26 and 27, the airport of Marrakech welcomed a total of 1,550 nationals on 10 flights, coming from the UK, France, Netherlands, Cote d’Ivoire, Senegal, and Germany.
The Menara airport, after ensuring a smooth customs process, implemented all prescribed preventive measures to guarantee a safe arrival for passengers. The airport implemented social distancing and provided hand sanitizer throughout the whole arrivals process.
The necessary preventive measures in airports follow the Moroccan National Office of Airports’ (ONDA) action plan formulated specifically for the repatriation of Moroccans stranded abroad.
Like all repatriated passengers, the newly returned Moroccans travelled in buses to central Marrakech, where they underwent testing for COVID-19. They will stay in the city for a quarantine period, in accordance with Ministry of Health protocols.
The repatriated nationals spent more than three months in Turkey after Morocco closed borders on March 15 to contain the spread of COVID-19.
The country’s border closures left over 33,000 Moroccans stranded, according to the latest figures from the Moroccan Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Morocco first launched the repatriation campaign for stranded Moroccans to benefit nationals in the Spanish enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla, followed by Algeria, mainland Spain, the Canary Islands, and Turkey.
Upcoming repatriation operations will benefit 5,000 to 6,000 Moroccans stranded abroad every week.
A campaign to repatriate Moroccans stranded in Germany, Egypt, Turkey, and Gulf countries is scheduled to take place between June 28 and July 4.
Since beginning repatriation operations, Morocco has brought home nationals from Ceuta and Melilla, Algeria, Tunisia, Mauritania, Senegal, Spain, Cote d’Ivoire, France, the Netherlands, Germany, Italy, Belgium, Turkey, and the UAE.
