Moroccan Immigrants Accused of Spreading Coronavirus in Their Country

Moroccan authorities wearing protective masks check people at a roadblock in a street in the capital Rabat | AFP
Moroccan authorities wearing protective masks check people at a roadblock in a street in the capital Rabat | AFP
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Moroccan Immigrants Accused of Spreading Coronavirus in Their Country

Moroccan authorities wearing protective masks check people at a roadblock in a street in the capital Rabat | AFP
Moroccan authorities wearing protective masks check people at a roadblock in a street in the capital Rabat | AFP

Moroccan immigrants in Europe are accused of spreading the coronavirus in their homeland after the Ministry of Health recorded the first case for a citizen coming back from in Italy early in March.

Following that, a number of cases were confirmed among Moroccan immigrants from Spain and France who arrived in the country after the spread of the virus abroad. The epidemiological situation in the country later became limited to local cases after authorities shut the borders with different countries of the world.

Moroccan authorities have responded strictly to the campaign against the Moroccan immigrants living abroad. They arrested a 46-year-old Moroccan on March 30, who broadcasted a video on social media insulting Moroccan immigrants and inciting discrimination and hatred against them.

The woman accused Moroccan immigrants of spreading the virus in their country, adding that the dead should be cremated.

The Moroccan security services described such statements as "despicable and insulting for the Moroccan citizens residing abroad", and stated that the video included explicit defamation and incitement to hatred against them, due to the developments of COVID-19 at the global level.

Moroccans widely condemned the video and lauded the authorities’ response to it.

Opinions varied between Moroccans arguing that immigrants should return to the country after the outbreak of the virus in Europe, and others who demanded that they stay in their countries of residence to prevent the virus spread in their homeland.

Weeks before the outbreak of the virus, a number of bullying cases against foreigners having Asian features were recorded in Morocco.

In Tangier for instance, a taxi driver recounted how many drivers before him refused to take a Japanese university professor who was putting a face mask for fear of contracting the virus. He said that after much hesitation, he felt sorry for the passenger and took her to her destination.



WFP: Major Food Aid 'Scale-up' Underway to Famine-hit Sudan

FILED - 27 August 2024, Sudan, Omdurman: Young people walk along a street marked by destruction in Sudan. Photo: Mudathir Hameed/dpa
FILED - 27 August 2024, Sudan, Omdurman: Young people walk along a street marked by destruction in Sudan. Photo: Mudathir Hameed/dpa
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WFP: Major Food Aid 'Scale-up' Underway to Famine-hit Sudan

FILED - 27 August 2024, Sudan, Omdurman: Young people walk along a street marked by destruction in Sudan. Photo: Mudathir Hameed/dpa
FILED - 27 August 2024, Sudan, Omdurman: Young people walk along a street marked by destruction in Sudan. Photo: Mudathir Hameed/dpa

More than 700 trucks are on their way to famine-stricken areas of Sudan as part of a major scale-up after clearance came through from the Sudanese government, a World Food Program spokesperson said on Tuesday.
The army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces have been locked in conflict since April 2023 that has caused acute hunger and disease across the country. Both sides are accused of impeding aid deliveries, the RSF by looting and the army by bureaucratic delays.
"In total, the trucks will carry about 17,500 tons of food assistance, enough to feed 1.5 million people for one month," WFP Sudan spokesperson Leni Kinzli told a press briefing in Geneva.
"We've received around 700 clearances from the government in Sudan, from the Humanitarian Aid Commission, to start to move and transport assistance to some of these hard-to-reach areas," she added, saying the start of the dry season was another factor enabling the scale-up.
The WFP fleet will be clearly labelled in the hope that access will be facilitated, Reuters quoted her as saying.
Some of the food is intended for 14 areas of the country that face famine or are at risk of famine, including Zamzam camp in the Darfur region.
The first food arrived there on Friday prompting cheers from crowds of people who had resorted to eating crushed peanut shells normally fed to animals, Kinzli said.

A second convoy for the camp is currently about 300 km away, she said.