Tears of joy, warm reunions. Moroccans stranded abroad since the end of November by the closure of airspace have been returning to their country since Monday, others are leaving, not without emotion.
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The entry and exit of Mohammed V airport in Casablanca, the economic capital of Morocco, is teeming with people on Monday afternoon.
Travelers preparing to leave meet those returning after more than two months of suspension of passenger flights due to the health crisis.
Behind metal barriers, installed near a huge marquee where Covid detection tests are carried out, Nizar watches for the exit of his wife who took “the first plane found” from Paris.
“Myself, I was only able to return last week on board a private jet, following the death of my father. I unfortunately missed the funeral, I let you imagine my pain since, confides to AFP this thirty-year-old living in Paris.
Not far away, a woman cluttered with her suitcases throws herself in tears into the arm of a loved one. “Don’t cry, you’re here now,” she tells him.
The reopening of air borders – somewhat overshadowed by the tragic death of little Rayan who fell into a well in the north of the country – is accompanied by strict restrictive measures to enter Moroccan territory.
All travelers must present a vaccination pass and a negative PCR test less than 48 hours old, according to a government press release.
Upon arrival in Morocco, he is subjected to a rapid antigen test and “random” PCR tests are carried out on groups of passengers.
Passengers who test positive will be required to self-isolate in their place of residence.
“What happiness!”
“I was very apprehensive about my arrival, but the process is rather fluid. What a pleasure to be in Bled! And this beautiful sun changes me from the grayness and cold of Germany,” enthuses Issam, 26, a medical student.
“I am relieved that my son can return to France to continue his studies. He’s already over a month late. I hope it won’t penalize him,” testifies Fatima, a fifty-year-old, at the entrance to the airport.
The closure raised strong protests from the large Moroccan diaspora and residents stuck in the kingdom.
“I lost a lot of projects, financially it’s complicated”, plague Younes, 33, established in Paris, but who works in the audiovisual sector with Moroccan partners.
Jean-Pierre Druart, a Belgian living with his Algerian wife since 2009 in Morocco, is “relieved” to return.
“I was to return at the end of November from a mission in Mauritania. I got stuck in the desert. It was not easy, because my wife is ill,” says this 67-year-old engineer who has just returned from France.
The suspension of passenger flights has hit tourism, a key sector of the country’s economy, hard.
The losses, over two years, are colossal: 20 million travelers and 90 billion dirhams (more than 8 billion euros) in foreign currency income.
Admittedly, an emergency plan of two billion dirhams (nearly 190 million euros) has been deployed, but without convincing the tourist actors who consider it too timid.
“Opening the borders is a very timely and long-awaited decision. A significant step,” Jalil Benabbès-Taarji, president of the National Association of Tourist Investors (ANIT), told AFP.
The conditions of entry to Morocco – even if they are more flexible than before the borders closed on November 29 – are too restrictive, regret the professionals of the sector.
“Travel protocols should evolve quickly and become lighter to align our country with international best practices,” hopes Mr. Benabbés-Taarji, for whom a complete vaccination schedule with a booster dose “should be enough” to enter Morocco.
For tourists, in addition to the vaccination pass and the PCR test, the authorities provide “the possibility of carrying out an additional test at the hotel or at the residence center 48 hours after their entry into the territory”.
If the planes take off again, the maritime transport of passengers remains suspended, specified an informed source to the Minister of Transport, without however communicating a date of resumption.
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Reference-www.journaldemontreal.com