Casablanca – Justice and Development Party Secretary-General Abdelilah Benkirane has criticized Head of Government Aziz Akhannouch for traveling to the Spanish island of Mallorca for his summer holiday without publicly addressing the recent migration crisis in the occupied city of Ceuta.
View this post on Instagram
Speaking about the government’s response, Benkirane said Akhannouch should have issued a clear statement explaining the situation to Moroccans and outlining the government’s position.
He argued that the issue has become a major point of tension between Morocco and the European Union, particularly Spain, which he described as a neighboring country with which Morocco maintains strong relations.
Benkirane also criticized what he described as the government’s silence throughout the crisis. He said Akhannouch had made no official statement, offered no condolences to the families of those who lost their lives during the attempted crossings, and had not publicly acknowledged the suffering of the tens of thousands of Moroccan youths affected by the events.
Read also: Morocco Says Migration Needs More Than Border Control, Urges Shared EU Responsibility
Instead, Benkirane said, the head of government traveled to Mallorca for his vacation rather than taking visible action to address the situation.
“How is that logical?” he asked, adding that the government’s silence and apparent inaction had themselves become a major issue, to the point that they were almost overshadowing the crisis itself.
He also said that a head of government facing a crisis of such magnitude should not leave the country for a holiday.
The comments come after days of heightened attention on Ceuta following mass attempts by migrants to reach the occupied city from northern Morocco. Moroccan authorities have since reinforced security measures around the border area, while Spanish officials said that 70000 of the 72000 who entered Ceuta had already been returned to Morocco.
Moroccan authorities have also continued investigations into suspected networks accused of encouraging or organizing irregular migration.
