Morocco Halts Flights from France Amid COVID Surge, Sparking Outrage Among Expatriates

In recent days, the news on the Covid-19 front has not been good in France. The country is recording a dizzying rise in the number of contaminations. The number of new daily cases reached 32,591 on Wednesday, the highest figure in the last seven months.

Faced with this new situation, Morocco has decided to close itself off to protect, it says, its achievements in managing the Covid-19 pandemic, by canceling flights and maritime links from France.

Faced with these decisions, several MREs, interviewed by africanews, expressed their deep dismay. For Ahmed Benyachi, a consultant in the medical-social sector in France, "they have to take all the measures to allow Moroccans and foreign tourists to make their arrangements and it is a unilateral decision without respect and for us, the Moroccans residing abroad and foreign tourists, so I frankly express my anger towards the Moroccan government that has made a decision without taking into account the realities of us others."

According to Rachid Landrichin, a Moroccan doctor, suspending air links with France could have waited. "If I were in the place of the decision-makers, I would have taken rather draconian restrictive measures at the start, that is to say tests, instead of 72 hours, I would have required 24-hour tests, I would have required a valid vaccination pass with a third dose, for example restrictive measures two or three days before in preparation for a suspension of flights," he proposed.

As for Michelle, she does not hide her dismay, as she has to revise her plans. "Unfortunately, I have canceled everything to leave because the Moroccan government does not warn well in advance. It should at least give 4 or 5 days, or even a week for people to prepare. At worst, block the flights arriving from France because it is dangerous, but the people leaving here, as long as France accepts them, I do not see the connection."