Moroccan Family’s Struggle: COVID-19 Blocks Repatriation of Grandmother’s Remains from Belgium

The deceased had lived for more than 30 years in Belgium, in the Borinage region, as well as her two daughters. Her three sons, on the other hand, remained in Casablanca. "She always said: we will all die one day. I want to be buried in the country," recalls her 20-year-old granddaughter Assia. "In order to fulfill this wish, we have been paying a funeral insurance for repatriation for more than thirty years," she tells the newspaper La Capitale.

But the appearance of covid-19 has complicated everything. Morocco has closed its airspace to curb the spread of the coronavirus. As a result, all flights have been canceled. Including repatriation flights for the remains of hundreds of Moroccans living abroad (MREs).

"I’m not just talking about my grandmother [...] These deceased formed on their deathbed the wish to be buried in their homeland. You have to love your country a lot to think about it when the soul leaves the body, don’t you?" says the young girl.

Assia says she has understood the concern of the Moroccan authorities to protect themselves from the epidemic at its peak "but today we still don’t know anything and we’re afraid the morgue can’t keep the body anymore. All we ask is that the coffin can be repatriated to be taken care of by my uncles and cousins on site; we don’t even dare ask to accompany it..."