Moroccan-Spanish Woman Detained at Fès Airport for Transporting Father’s Ashes

At Fès-Saïss airport, customs officers, during a routine check, discovered a bottle in the effects of a Spanish passenger of Moroccan origin arriving from Barcelona and seized it to analyze its contents. The preliminary investigation reveals that it is the ashes of the remains of her father, who died two weeks ago, reports Assabah. After the cremation of the body, the daughter brought the ashes to Morocco in order to bury them in the region where she is from. Except that she is unaware of "the legal consequences that her initiative could entail, as the transport to the Kingdom of Morocco of the ashes of the deceased from abroad is subject to [provisions specified in the] very strict legislation and regulations," the daily reports.

The MRE was handed over to the police for further investigation into her case. Investigators will seek to determine the reasons that justify the fact that she did not request an authorization from the authorities to bring back these ashes, as provided for in the provisions of the laws in force. Will she be brought before a judge, or will she be reprimanded before being able to recover her father’s ashes? Only the ongoing investigation will situate the passenger.

This is not the first time that such a discovery has been made in Moroccan airports. In 2018, the ashes of a deceased person had been found in the belongings of a Moroccan woman residing in Germany. The investigation opened on this discovery had made it possible to determine that it was the remains of her father, whose body had been cremated. The passenger had decided to bring them to Morocco so that the members of her family could organize the burial.