By Fadela Mohatar Maanan(Spanish) on the urgent need to open a humanitarian corridor between Nador (Morocco) and Melilla (Spain) during the COVID-19 outbreak 

The petitioner states that, since the closure of the borders between Spain and Morocco due to the COVID-19 outbreak, more than a hundred Europeans residing in the city of Melilla (as well as in Ceuta) have remained blocked in the Moroccan territory, particularly in the bordering region of Nador and its province. The petitioner notes that these repatriations could have been carried out by land, port or airport, because both territories have the necessary infrastructure but people have continued to be trapped in Morocco. The petitioner denounces that, for more than two months, EU citizens have not found a solution to their blocking situation. The petitioner informs of the situation of collective institutional helplessness for this group of people, including her 70 years old mother. Among them, families separated from their children, people who have already lost their jobs, who are running out of financial means and who, above all, are unprotected in terms of social and health conditions. The petitioner requests the EU institutions to arbitrate the pertinent actions so that Spain and Morocco would reach an urgent and necessary agreement that allows EU citizens blocked in Nador, Morocco, in a situation of serious vulnerability due to the COVID19 outbreak, to return to their places of residence, work and socio-sanitary protection in Melilla.