Moroccan Engineer Stranded for Months in Doha Airport Due to COVID-19 Travel Restrictions

Without a visa for Qatar, Atiq Awtar, a young Moroccan, has been blocked at Doha airport since the advent of the coronavirus last March, reports Telquel. On February 24, he had taken a flight from Mohammed V airport, with a ticket dated March 16 in his pocket.

An engineer by profession, he was going to Kenya for a mission to monitor the installation of machinery in a carbonated beverage production company. Unfortunately for him, it was on this same date that the state of health emergency came into effect in Morocco. Faced with this case of force majeure, he then decided to change his destination and join Istanbul on April 1. Bad luck for him, a second time. The Kenyan authorities had decided to close the borders on March 24, inviting anyone wishing to leave the country before that date to make their arrangements.

This is how Atiq Atwtar found himself among the passengers of the last flight to leave Nairobi, bound for Casablanca, with stopovers in Doha and Istanbul. But once again, things did not go as planned. The day of his arrival in Istanbul coincided with the closure of Turkish airspace. "The Turkish authorities confiscated my passport and those of all the Arab passengers... Only the Europeans could leave the territory," he denounces.

After a night spent at Istanbul airport, he will be sent back to Doha, without a visa to enter Qatari territory. About ten travelers were in the same situation as him. After a few days, the latter were able to successively leave the transit area. Atiq Awtar finds himself alone there, without hope, until April 13, where via a phone call, Qatar Airways announces him good news: he will be able to board the flight reserved for Qatari citizens stranded in Morocco. His joy will be short-lived, as Qatar Airways calls him back a few moments later to inform him that Morocco was not willing to welcome him, given the health situation in the kingdom.

Still without a solution, Qatar Airways then offers him a flight to Cambodia where Moroccan citizens can easily obtain a visa, or to contact the Moroccan embassy in Doha with a view to his repatriation to Morocco via a European country.

For the embassy, the presence of the Moroccan on Qatari soil, without a visa, would be illegal and would prevent any action. Atiq Awtar then settled in one of the hotels in the transit area of Doha airport, all expenses paid by his employer, an Italian company. "My accommodation costs have exceeded 29,000 euros. My superiors do not understand the negligence of the Moroccan state towards its nationals stranded abroad...", he declares.

It has already been three months since Atiq Awtar has been confined to his room, with difficult catering conditions. "If I could go out, I would have taken care of myself... During the month of Ramadan, all the shops at the airport were closed. I was feeding exclusively on water and chocolate," he says.

The Italian company that employs him fears that the situation will drag on. It has tried in vain to charter a private plane to repatriate him to Morocco.