While residents of the rural villages most affected by the devastating earthquake that hit Morocco on Friday denounce the slowness in aid arriving from the Moroccan Government, 60 countries around the world are still waiting for the kingdom to accept the aid offered. Among them, Germany, France, Italy, Canada, the United States, France or even Algeria, which has faced Morocco for decades. Also the United Nations or the European Union.
For the moment, the government of the kingdom of Mohamed VI has only accepted search and rescue teams from the United Kingdom, Qatar, Spain and the United Arab Emirates, countries it called “friends,” after taking into account the "needs." on the terrain".
The Moroccan Ministry of the Interior justified its rejection of the massive willingness to provide international aid that wants to avoid a lack of coordination of troops because, in its opinion, it would be "counterproductive."
Washington stated that it is "waiting for news from the Moroccan government to know how and where we can help," US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on CNN on Sunday. The United Nations has brought experts to Morocco, but they are "waiting for a request for assistance," said Farhan Haq, deputy spokesman for the UN secretary general.
“Together with all our international partners, we stand with Morocco to provide all necessary support for any urgent short-term financial needs and reconstruction efforts,” said a joint statement published by the European Union (EU) on the sidelines of the summit. of the G-20 being held in India.
The European Commissioner for Crisis Management, Janez Lenarcic, has also reiterated the EU's willingness to collaborate and, at the request of Morocco, "to activate the EU Civil Protection Mechanism to help national first responders with any type of help they need from Europe. Rabat's request has not yet arrived.
Of all the aid offers received by Morocco, the most significant is that of Algeria. Due to deep political disagreements, the land borders between the two countries have been closed since 1994, and in 2021 Algeria closed its airspace to Moroccan aviation. To facilitate the arrival of international aid, Algeria announced on Saturday the opening of its airspace to humanitarian flights to Morocco, a decision that the Arab League itself praised yesterday. The neighboring country has also expressed its willingness to “urgently” send a large rescue team. Also no response.
In France, which ruled Morocco as a colonial power from 1912 to 1956, the lack of support was met with surprise and sparked speculation that it was related to cooling relations between Paris and Rabat over immigration or the Western Sahara issue, which Morocco wants France to recognize it as Moroccan. Morocco has not had an ambassador in Paris since January. However, French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna felt that the controversy was being exaggerated.
Both the Government of the British Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, and that of Pedro Sánchez have supported Morocco's autonomy plan for Western Sahara, thus recognizing the Moroccan nature of the territory that the Sahrawis exiled in Algeria claim as theirs.
Germany has also downplayed Morocco's refusal to immediately accept its aid offer. Berlin sees no indication that Morocco's decision is political, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said on Monday. "Diplomatic relations between Germany and Morocco are good," the spokesperson added. As Germany learned from the deadly 2021 floods in the Ahr Valley, coordination of aid is important during major disasters to ensure that rescue workers do not hinder each other, the same source explained.
Other German politicians expressed surprise that assistance was refused. "It is not understood why this aid is not requested," tweeted Carl-Julius Cronenberg, a member of parliament for Germany's Free Democrats. "It should not be a matter of misunderstood national pride, but only of the best and quickest help possible!" he added.
In the same sense, the activist and critic of the Moroccan Government Maati Mounjib complained in statements to the BBC Newsday program: "I think it is really a mistake [to insist on] sovereignty and national pride. This is not the time to refuse because aid is essential, even developed countries accept external help [in disasters]."
