RABAT —
Morocco on Sunday begins welcoming an influx of its citizens living in Europe
after the pandemic led to a halt in what has been called one of the world’s
biggest cross-continental migrations.
اضافة اعلان
The last such
effort in the summer of 2019 saw 3.3 million people and more than
three-quarters of a million vehicles cross the Gibraltar Strait.
The North African
kingdom is just 14km from the coast of Spain, which has announced it will also
put in place special measures for
Moroccans from June 15 for two months.
Spain’s government has called the seasonal migration “one of the biggest flows
of people across continents in such a small time”.
Resuming
large-scale cross-strait travel comes not only after an easing of the pandemic
threat but also following a mending of diplomatic ties between the two
countries. The year-long diplomatic dispute had extended border closures
originally put in place because of
COVID-19, but maritime traffic resumed in
April.
“Operation Marhaba
(Welcome) for Moroccans living overseas begins on June 5,” said a statement
late Saturday from the Mohammed V Solidarity Foundation which organizes the
effort.
More than 1,000
people including doctors, social workers, and volunteers have signed up to help
people arriving at ports and airports. Most will come by boat from Spain.
As well as at Moroccan ports, helpers will be stationed in
the Spanish ports of Almeria and
Algeciras, Marseille in France, and Italy’s
Genoa, among others. The traffic goes in both directions, as many Moroccans
also head to Spanish coastal resorts for their holidays.
Read more Region and World
Jordan News
.jpg)
.jpg)
