After being hit on the evening of Friday September 8 by a powerful earthquake which left more than 2,100 dead southwest of Marrakech, will Morocco accept France’s offer of aid? As of Sunday evening, Paris had still not received approval from the Moroccan authorities, more than twenty-four hours after Emmanuel Macron indicated that “France stands ready to help with first aid”.
Questioned on Sunday on BFM-TV, the French ambassador to Morocco, Christophe Lecourtier, affirmed that “the French authorities are in daily contact with the Moroccan authorities”adding that “the French aid proposal is taken into consideration” and that Paris has “every reason to think that, by Monday, French aid will be called in”.
On Sunday, the Head of State reiterated France’s proposal at the G20 summit in New Delhi. “The Moroccan authorities know exactly what we can deliver, the nature and the timingdid he declare. The second that help is requested, it will be deployed and we stand ready. » Staff have been mobilized, the equipment is ready. “We can’t go any further”we confirm at the Ministry of the Interior, responsible for civil security.
Four countries are currently operating in Morocco with their teams: Spain, the United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar. As in the case of France, aid proposals from the United States, Russia, India and Saudi Arabia, in particular, had not received the approval of the Moroccan authorities on Sunday evening.
On the side of the French associations of first aiders, “we are only waiting for the best”, indicates Jérémy Crunchant, the spokesperson for civil protection, which brings together some 32,000 volunteers. The team of around thirty people is ready to leave for Morocco. “We have been in contact since Saturday morning with the Moroccan authorities, but we encountered some difficulties”, he explains. Four people from the association arrived in Morocco on Saturday and are working with their counterparts there. “We felt that at the beginning, there could be a reluctance to ask for help from France, for geopolitical reasons, but this seems to be unblocking”advance Jérémy Crunchant, who believes that because of the critical situation, offers of help should be accepted.
Around a hundred proposals from associations around the world were received by the Moroccan authorities. With the risk, if access to the disaster areas was open to them, of creating a crowd, duplicates and complicating the safety of the rescue teams, recognize most associations specializing in emergency aid.
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