Exclusive: Private Jets Skirt Morocco’s Border Closure, Raising Health Concerns

These private planes manage to enter Moroccan territory and leave it without difficulty, despite the closed air borders. Their passengers do not undergo any health checks, let alone the 7-day quarantine, reports the daily Assabah cited by h24info. The organizers of these flights rent the aircraft and manage to obtain the necessary authorizations from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, after submitting the passengers’ passports three days before the flight.

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Each traveler pays up to 200,000 DH for a flight and must present an up-to-date vaccination schedule in order to be included in the exceptional travel permit issued by the competent service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. According to a source acting in the field of human rights, these "secret" flights constitute a violation of the sovereign decision to suspend flights taken by the government, also questioning the legality of the authorizations granted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

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The issuance of these licenses creates a breach of equality of all citizens before the law, adds the speaker who requested anonymity, specifying that these private flights are discriminatory because they are not accessible to everyone. Yet, many Moroccans stranded in Europe or wishing to go there for various reasons are also eligible for these flights. But they have no choice but to wait for the government’s decision to reopen its airspace.