Morocco Delays Earthquake Aid from Spanish Enclaves Amid Diplomatic Tensions

The Moroccan authorities have not formally rejected the aid from the NGOs of Ceuta and Melilla, but have put forward various arguments not to receive it. They have asked them to be patient, the time for their request to be studied, or have indicated to them that they were awaiting a response from the Ministry of the Interior. After a month of waiting, the heads of these NGOs threaten to give up the aid. "If it takes a few more days, we will give up the expedition and all this aid will be distributed to the many needy families in our city," Amin Azmani, a deputy of the local party Somos Melilla, told El Confidencial.

These local associations have collected clothes, shoes, tents, blankets, non-perishable food and some basic medicines for the victims of the September 8 earthquake. "We have 4,500 kilos of aid stored in a room next to the university hospital," says Tarik Abdeslam, president of Ceuta 317 Viviendas, a residents’ association.

The real problem is that Morocco does not allow the traffic of goods from Ceuta and Melilla since the reopening of land borders and, according to unofficial diplomatic sources, does not seem willing to reopen the commercial customs of Melilla, closed since August 2018, and to create a customs office in Ceuta, as this would indirectly recognize Spanish sovereignty over the