French Tourists Face Chaotic Repatriation from Morocco After Two-Month Lockdown

Like Moroccans residing in France, the French and Franco-Moroccans stranded in Morocco for two months, Pauline had registered on a waiting list, established by the consular services and the French embassy, in order to be repatriated. A repatriation that is an uphill battle. On Wednesday, May 13, she finally gets a seat on a flight to Paris, operated by Air France for her return.

She is one of dozens of passengers transported by a consulate bus early in the morning to the Casablanca airport. But Pauline was far from imagining that she would face a situation that could prevent her from traveling that day. "There was absolutely no respect for the rules of distancing; it was a bit of a giant funnel. We couldn’t hear what the consulate staff were telling us because they were speaking loudly in this airport terminal where hundreds of people were waiting. It was absurd," she says.

Although they had their tickets, Pauline and other passengers learn that they would not all be able to board the plane. The reason given: Air France told France Inter that it had been informed on the morning of Wednesday, May 13, by the French authorities, of the decree establishing physical distancing in the cabin of chartered aircraft with immediate effect.

On Friday, Pauline and the other passengers who had not boarded on Wednesday were finally repatriated via an Air France flight. However, the French woman is angry with the consular authorities, the organizers present at the airport that day. "We were put in danger," she fumes angrily.