President of the Civil Emergency Authority Against Coronavirus, Elie Saliba, received this weekend a number of phone calls from Lebanese stranded in Morocco, calling on the authorities to ensure their speeedy return to Lebanon for various reasons.

Saliba confirmed that the Lebanese Ambassador to Morocco, Ziad Atallah, "follows the conditions of the community moment by moment and secure all of their needs, but the return has become necessary because of the absence of any horizon for the end of the Corona crisis and the stoppage of businesses and livelihoods, and the lack of ability to obtain funds from Lebanon."

In this context, Saliba contacted Ambassador Atallah and briefed the Ambassador on the conditions of the community, where Atallah confirmed that "150 Lebanese who have registered [for repatriation] have insisted on returning as soon as possible to Lebanon and that the embassy is providing the required care to the community in this exceptional circumstance, but it is unable to continue with this for more than two additional weeks."

He also stressed that he "undertook all necessary correspondence with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the concerned authorities and explained to them all the details, especially the willingness of 80 returnees to cover the expenses of the entire trip."

On the other hand, Saliba made another call to the Chairman of the board of directors and the director general of Middle East Airlines Mohamed Al-Hout, where he confirmed to him that the company is ready to operate flights, but so far there is no flight listed from Morocco to Lebanon in the second stage of operating the flights, explaining that the matter in determining the priorities in the conduct of flights is up to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Finally, he appealed to "those concerned, especially the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates, to accelerate the conduct of flights and place the stranded people in Morocco within the second stage of the plan, given that they are willing to pay the costs of the trip."