Rabat – The French embassy in Morocco has said that recent reports in Moroccan media and on social media about visa rejections for imams during Ramadan are “inaccurate.”
In a statement issued earlier today, the embassy said: “The French Embassy in Morocco has taken note of information disseminated by several Moroccan media outlets and shared on social media claiming that French consulates in Morocco have not issued, or only partially issued, visas to Moroccan imams sent to France to accompany the Moroccan community during the holy month of Ramadan.”
“This information is not accurate,” the embassy stressed, adding that all Moroccan imams who applied for a visa as part of Morocco’s Ramadan dispatch program have “obtained their visas.”
According to the statement, Morocco’s dispatch of imams during Ramadan has long been the subject of close consultation between Paris and Rabat.
Communiqué de presse de l’ambassade de France au Maroc pic.twitter.com/jFrKhwDMgN
— La France au Maroc (@AmbaFranceMaroc) March 29, 2023
As part of Ramadan 2023 preparations, Morocco sent to 11 countries a contingent of 144 academics, preachers, and Quran reciters to provide religious support to Moroccans worldwide during Ramadan.
The embassy’s statement comes in the wake of reports by some Moroccan news outlets that several imams who were part of the delegation for this year’s Ramadan service to Moroccans in France had their visa applications denied without good reason.
This latest controversy adds to the prevailing sentiment — and frustration — in Morocco that Moroccan seekers of French visas are still dismally treated despite Paris’s recent reassurances about lifting its visa restrictions.
French Foreign Affairs Minister Catherine Colonna announced the restoration of “normal consular” relations with Morocco in December 2022, emphasizing that her country would soon lift its visa restrictions on Moroccan applicants.
Read Also: France Restores ‘Normal Consular’ Ties with Morocco
Prior to the French minister’s announcement, France-Morocco relations had undergone a year-long rift over the French government’s decision in September 2021 to review its visa policy for Moroccans.
Despite reassurances from France’s chief diplomat about the lifting of the visa restrictions, famous Moroccan singer Manal Benchlikha took to social media in January 2023 to express her frustration at being denied a visa to France due to an alleged “lack of financial resources.”
However, after an intervention by the Moroccan Ministry of Culture, Benchlikha and her husband obtained their visas to France.
Read Also: Manal Benchlikha Shares Frustration After Visa Rejection From France
