Moroccan Expats Demand Repatriation, Citing Constitutional Rights Violation

Interviewed on the repatriation of Moroccans stranded abroad by Tv5monde, Souad Chaouih notes a total abdication of the Moroccan government. An abdication coupled with the violation of Article 22 of the Moroccan Constitution which stipulates that the State has a duty to protect its citizens, whether or not they are on Moroccan soil, she denounced.

For the president of the Association of Moroccans in France (AMF), it is unacceptable that for two months, and despite the many calls and other protest movements of Moroccans stranded abroad, the government has not been able to find a solution to allow them to return home. The 32,000 Moroccans stranded abroad only have unfulfilled promises in response to their repatriation requests, she insisted, noting that her association continues to receive complaints from Moroccans who only want to return home, as they are tired of living in psychological, physical and moral distress far from their homeland. She also denounces the omerta maintained by Saad-Eddine El Othmani, the head of the Moroccan government, on the repatriation of Moroccans stranded abroad. Nothing concrete has ever leaked from his rare outings, she denounces.

Faced with the precarious situation of Moroccans stranded abroad, which includes several vulnerable people, she has appealed to the Moroccan government without success. To this end, the president of the AMF said that the Moroccan consulate in France has set up support cells with derisory aid, which are far from being the solution. Souad Chaouih points out that to force the hand of the Moroccan government, the AMF organized an online conference at the end of which the associations decided to refer the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) in order to compel the Moroccan Executive to repatriate Moroccans stranded abroad.