The Moroccan embassy in Belgium and the three consulates general of the Kingdom are fully mobilized to provide the necessary assistance to the Moroccan community in the context of the coronavirus pandemic, Morocco’s ambassador in Brussels, Mohamed Ameur, said Saturday.
As part of this mobilization, which is in line with the concern of HM King Mohammed VI for the Moroccan community living abroad, the Kingdom’s embassy and consulates in Brussels, Liege and Antwerp are working to support Moroccan nationals stranded in Belgium due to the suspension of air links, the closure of borders and the proclamation of a state of health emergency, to provide the necessary assistance to those in precarious situations and to accompany the community through a communication and awareness campaign, said the Moroccan diplomat in an interview with MAP.
In this context, he stated that special attention is paid to people with reduced mobility and their accompanying persons, noting that the embassy and consulates have mobilized, in coordination with the ministry of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccan Expatriates to support and provide them with care.
Some 910 Moroccan nationals are currently stranded in Belgium, following the closure of airspace due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.
The ambassador recalled the setting up, since 14 March, of a monitoring unit at the embassy and the three consulates of the Kingdom, responsible for daily monitoring of the situation of stranded citizens, notably through the establishment of a census and a global list.
He also recalled the provision to Moroccan nationals of dedicated telephone lines and an email address at the embassy and the three consulates, which have been communicated on a very large scale through the national and local press as well as through social networks and Moroccan associations.
The services of the embassy and the various consulates take the initiative to contact our registered citizens to inquire about their situation and their state of health in order to provide them with the necessary assistance and support, said Ameur, specifying that this support is multifaceted (food aid, accommodation, financial aid, medical assistance, purchase of medicines, etc.).
The embassy and consulates are also in permanent contact both in Belgium and in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg with the competent services responsible for immigration and foreigners, in order to facilitate the procedures for extending short-stay tourist visas for stranded citizens.
Ameur added that the action of the embassy and consulates, in this particular context, is also aimed at Moroccan students in Belgium, with whom permanent contact is established, particularly through their representatives, to monitor their situation and reassure them in these difficult moments and express the availability of the embassy and consulates to assist them in case of need.
Regarding the situation of deceased Moroccans and faced with the impossibility of repatriating their bodies for burial in Morocco, the ministry of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccan Expatriates, decided to cover the burial costs of the deceased in a precarious situation, recalled the diplomat.
Ameur stressed that the diplomatic and consular services, in coordination with the Belgian communal authorities, ensure the burial of deceased Moroccans in the squares reserved for Muslims in municipal cemeteries.
He said that to date 97 Moroccan nationals residing in Belgium have perished due to Covid-19 infection.
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