Moroccan Student Stranded as Morocco Suspends Flights from France Amid Coronavirus

When she learned the news on a Thursday evening, Maha El Haiba contacted her parents and booked a Nice-Casablanca flight for the following Monday, reports Nice-Matin. "We then thought we had a wide margin of time ahead of us, so that I could pack my bags and prepare my return quietly," says the young student.

The next day, a new development will upset her: Morocco suspends its air flights with France. "I spent the afternoon in tears, looking for alternative flights that would go through other countries whose borders were still open. My parents finally found me one that was returning on Saturday morning. We were hoping that the rumors saying the borders would be open again within 24 hours were true..." recounts Maha.

Suitcase in hand, she leaves her apartment in Menton and takes the last train to Nice. She plans to spend the night at the airport so as not to miss her plane, as the takeoff was scheduled very early the next morning. "On the train, I connect to the airline’s app to download my ticket. Surprise: the flight is canceled. The only ones that were maintained were those of the official Moroccan airline." Disappointed, Maha returns to Menton.

"The disappointment and false hopes had completely destroyed me. Between Thursday evening and that moment, I felt like a week had passed," she laments. The last attempt by the young student also ended in failure. She contacts the Moroccan embassy in Paris and all the consulates of the kingdom in France. The only person who answers her tells her that no repatriation measures are planned. Maha ends up staying in France.