2024-04-26 21:58:57
Two years ago, a video showing a sub-Saharan passenger violently attacked by agents of Casablanca airport and Royal Air Maroc shocked social networks. Return to a case which was controversial and whose gray areas remain.
Flashback to images of rare violence
May 2022. A video is making the rounds on social networks and outrages public opinion. As exclusively revealed by 237online.com, we see a black man presented as a passenger in transit, beaten by individuals identified as employees of Casablanca airport and the Royal Air Maroc company. For many minutes, the victim is assaulted without anyone intervening.
The affair broke out following overbooked flights by Royal Air Maroc. Exasperated by days of waiting, sub-Saharan passengers protested against boarding which seemed to them reserved for “ Non-black Africans“. The demonstration then degenerated, with a Senegalese national being beaten up. “like an animal” according to witnesses. Unbearable images that went around the world.
Gray areas never clarified
But two years later, many questions remain unanswered. The broadcast of the video was mysteriously blocked on Facebook in Morocco, suggesting an attempt at censorship. The authorities denied this, but doubt persists. “There was a desire to cover up the scandal, to limit the impact of these disastrous images for the image of the country”estimates a Moroccan media expert contacted by 237online.com.
The internal investigation promised by Royal Air Maroc was hardly more transparent. If the company claims to have sanctioned the offending agents, it is impossible to know more. What exactly were they accused of? Did they act on their own or under instruction? The vagueness remains. “There would have been a need for a public and independent investigation to shed light on it,” regrets a human rights activist. There, we have the feeling of being between ourselves, of an omerta.”
Anti-black racism, an evil rooted in Morocco?
Beyond this case, it is the question of anti-black racism in Morocco which continues to be debated. For many voices, the airport affair is symptomatic of a deep evil which is plaguing Moroccan society. “Attacks and discrimination against Sub-Saharan Africans are commonplace,” denounces a member of SOS Racisme Maroc. But they are minimized, even denied by the authorities”.
An observation shared by many observers. In a damning report published last year, the NGO Human Rights Watch highlighted “the systemic racism and widespread discrimination suffered by black migrants in Morocco”. With the backdrop of the ambiguity of relations between Rabat and sub-Saharan Africa, between opening speeches and the often sordid reality on the ground.
Two years later, the filmed beating of this black passenger at Casablanca airport remains a shocking image. That of ordinary racist violence which is difficult to combat. For associations, it is high time that actions finally follow words. “Morocco’s new discourse on African integration must not just be a facade, a communication operation,” insists an activist. It must translate into a real anti-racist policy. Otherwise, other tragedies will happen again”. The road still seems long.