Bourita Details Morocco’s Gulf Repatriation Measures
Marrakech – Foreign Affairs Minister Nasser Bourita outlined a series of emergency measures his ministry has taken to assist Moroccan nationals stranded in Gulf countries.
The statements come as the US-Israeli war on Iran, launched on February 28, enters its 35th day with no end in sight. At least 2,076 people have been killed and 26,500 wounded in Iran since the start of the conflict.
Iranian retaliatory strikes have spread across the Gulf, and Iran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz has halted most shipping and pushed oil prices above $100 a barrel – turning the region where thousands of Moroccans live and work into an active war zone.
Morocco’s top diplomat made his clarifications in a response to a written question from parliamentary adviser Khalid Setti, affiliated with the National Union of Labor in Morocco (UNMT), who pressed him on the situation of Moroccans stranded in Gulf states.
The minister said his department acted from the outset on the instructions of King Mohammed VI. A crisis cell was established at the central level in Rabat. It has been operating in close coordination with Moroccan embassies and consulates across the Gulf region.
Emergency hotlines were set up to run around the clock. The lines serve residents, stuck travelers, and tourists alike. Consular services have been directing citizens toward available travel routes to return home, particularly after most targeted countries closed their airspace and suspended all flights.
Bourita detailed additional measures to ease conditions for those unable to leave. The Moroccan state covered accommodation costs for many marooned citizens. Negotiations with host countries secured visa extensions for nationals whose documents were expiring. Flight dates were changed at no extra cost.
On evacuation, the minister noted that many Moroccans managed to leave targeted areas through land border crossings. Saudi authorities facilitated entry for residents of neighboring states into Saudi territory. Once there, citizens were repatriated by air. Royal Air Maroc operated repatriation flights as soon as the threat level allowed a partial resumption of air traffic.
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Bourita reaffirmed his ministry’s continued mobilization to support the Moroccan diaspora abroad.
The minister’s response, however, did not address one critical gap. Moroccan nationals inside Iran remain largely unaccounted for.
Moulay Mehdi El Fathemy, a member of the Socialist Group at the House of Representatives, submitted a separate written question last month demanding answers on this front. El Fathemy said he received distress calls from Moroccan men and women in Iran – students, workers, and individuals on family visits – who have been unable to leave since the closure of Iranian airspace.
The deputy asked whether the ministry conducted a census of affected nationals, assessed their conditions, and coordinated with friendly embassies or international organizations to secure safe evacuation corridors.
The issue is compounded by a structural problem. Morocco severed diplomatic ties with Tehran in May 2018, accusing Hezbollah of funneling military support to the Polisario Front through Iranian-linked channels. Since then, the Moroccan Embassy in Baku, Azerbaijan has served as the official point of contact for Moroccan citizens in Iran.
When the ministry announced its Gulf crisis cell and published emergency hotline numbers for Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, and Jordan, Iran was absent from the list.
For Moroccans trapped on Iranian soil, the question of who protects them remains unanswered.
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