"50,000 Moroccans have been stuck in Libya ever since the beginning of the war," said the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mbarka Bouaida, during the session of questions to the government, held Tuesday, July 21 in the House of Representatives.
The minister said that "the kingdom was doing everything possible to protect its nationals from the beginning of the armed conflict that followed the overthrow of Gaddafi." A crisis unit comprising representatives of several ministries was even created to assist Moroccans residing in Libya, in case of problems.
According to figures of the Ministry of Moroccans living abroad, more than 16,000 Moroccans living in Libya were repatriated since 2011. The country had more than 80,000 Moroccans before the revolution.
The Moroccan Foreign Ministry announced last March its decision to withdraw its diplomats from Libyan soil. "The absence of state structures in Libya and the fear that our diplomatic staff be the victim of an attack led us to fall back on Tunisia which shares borders with Libya", said Rachid El Moura, Moroccan consul in Benghazi to French newspaper Le Monde.
"Those who wish to return to Morocco are fully supported at the Tunisian-Libyan border in Ras Ajdir,".
Noteworthy that Libya is in chaos since the fall of Muammar Gaddafi regime in 2011. The country has two governments vying for power, one based in Tripoli and one in Tobruk.