Morocco Limits Summer Homecoming for Diaspora Amid COVID-19 Restrictions

Leave or stay? Many Maghrebians have been asking themselves this question since some restrictive measures, such as border closures and flight suspensions, have been lifted. Moroccans can count on an "exceptional operation" launched by the authorities to allow them, regardless of their place of residence, to return starting July 15 by plane or boat from France or Italy. But according to a survey conducted by the local press in early July, "one Moroccan living abroad out of two hoped to return to the country this summer," reports lamanchelibre.fr.

Several of those who want to return have reservations related to the pandemic, the fear of being contaminated. And the fact that Rabat requires a double negative test less than 48 hours before boarding remains an impossible mission for some. "No lab will let me take the test if I don’t have a fever!" you have to "go to a private lab but none will deliver the results within 48 hours," says an angry Moroccan living in the United States.

It’s not just Moroccans facing such difficulties. Nour lives in Paris and would have liked to return to Tunisia for her summer vacation. But she asks herself a thousand and one questions. "My tickets were canceled, and I hesitate to go see my grandmother: I wouldn’t want to contaminate her." It is with a heavy heart that the Tunisian resigns herself to a summer in Paris, far from the family cocoon. "I love going to Tunisia for a month, even two when I can, to spend time with my grandmothers, in Bizerte or Djerba," explains the 26-year-old woman who works in health prevention.

This year, the Maghreb countries will see fewer visitors for the summer vacation. A blow to the economy of these countries, especially when we know that "the diaspora represents a crucial windfall in the Maghreb". For example, Morocco welcomed more than 2.9 million Moroccans residing abroad (MRE) in 2019 who "largely contribute to the dynamism of the real estate sector by investing for their vacations or retirement".

In Algeria, the stays of Algerians residing abroad (ARE) "include more and more tourist activities with average expenses of 500 to 2,000 euros per vacationer," estimates Mourad Kezzar, consultant and trainer in tourism.

In Tunisia, about 500,000 Tunisians residing abroad (TRE) each summer, "brought in 2019 some 5.3 billion dinars in foreign currency, more than the tourism sector," according to the Central Bank, the same source specifies.