There appears to be different perspective
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THE ATLANTIC COUNCIL
The hard reality is that even humanitarian rescue remains grounds for political calculations and tensions. Whether in response to an emergency or more generally for development, aid should never be forced on a nation, and countries in the Global South should always feel in control over who is allowed to operate in their sovereign territories. This is an especially fraught issue given Morocco’s colonial past and a recent pan-African revival rejecting French interventionism and treatment of the continent like its backyard...
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While international aid is much needed to help Rabat alleviate the looming humanitarian and economic hardship, the kingdom is adamant about setting some ground rules with foreign partners and not accepting any aid that, as Morocco sees it, would come at the cost of its national dignity and sovereignty.
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In the past, Western countries have used development aid and disaster relief as incentives for political reforms and an array of interventions. Some may argue that disaster relief should be distinguished from development aid given the often unexpected and perilous circumstances in which the former is needed, but that is ultimately a decision that countries must make for themselves. It is clear that this paradigm is shifting, and the Global South is growing in confidence and developing its own local capacities and expertise in confronting humanitarian disasters. In the case of Morocco, it is using this crisis as a public relations opportunity to rebrand itself as a capable and autonomous nation.
✓ Today, in the Maghreb and across the African continent, the age of foreign interference through humanitarian missions seems to be over.
Sarah Zaaimi is the deputy director for communications at the Atlantic Council’s Rafik Hariri Center and Middle East programs.
The politics behind Morocco turning down help after the devastating earthquake
Horrifying footage continues to pour in from Morocco after the earthquake that shook the peaceful High Atlas Mountains in the region of Al Haouz on the outskirts of Marrakesh. Entire villages perched atop the kingdom’s highest peaks were leveled. Anguished parents turned over stones for a glimpse of life from under the rubble. Rows of dead bodies wrapped in blankets awaited burial. In the days since, the world has turned its eyes to the earthquake’s destruction—but also to Rabat’s management of the crisis and the politics behind it.
Shortly after the earthquake, Moroccan King Mohammed VI convened an emergency meeting and ordered his military forces to break the isolation of remote villages in dire need of food, shelter, and medical attention. Images showed Moroccan helicopters and military personnel defying the forces of nature and carrying out perilous rescue missions.
The international community swiftly reacted to the earthquake, too, conveying its sympathy and offering assistance. World leaders at the G20 summit, including host country India, expressed their full solidarity and readiness to deploy rescue missions on the ground. While Morocco allowed search teams from several countries to access the disaster areas and deploy their field operations, it declined or ignored aid offered by France and Algeria. This is likely due to ongoing political and diplomatic tensions with its former colonizer and its eastern neighbor. Images of Spanish, Qatari, Italian, and Senegalese search units and sniffer dogs, among other first responders, were circulated soon after the tragedy.
Politicizing humanitarian rescue...
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AL JAZEERA
Morocco earthquake: Why authorities accepted limited foreign aid
Moroccan authorities have come under criticism for accepting limited foreign aid despite rescuers struggling to reach remote regions hardest hit by Friday’s devastating earthquake that has claimed more than 2,800 lives.
Only search-and-rescue teams from the United Kingdom (UK), Qatar, Spain and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have been allowed to operate on the ground by the Moroccan authorities, despite numerous offers from governments worldwide
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The Moroccan interior ministry in a statement on Sunday said that its acceptance of aid from four countries initially is a decision that was made “based on a precise assessment of needs on the ground”, noting that this is not a rejection of offers. The ministry added that poorly coordinated aid “would be counterproductive”.
‘There are no geopolitics’
Abdelmalek Alaoui, president of the Moroccan Institute of Strategic Intelligence, told Al Jazeera he believes “there are no geopolitics” behind Morocco’s decision to be selective with accepting help so far.
“The question of how to channel international aid is at the centre of the conversation since day one. We have concerns that if you get too much aid … [in an] unorganised [manner], it will create bottlenecks … and this will be very complicated to handle,” Alaoui told Al Jazeera from the capital Rabat, adding that the worst-affected region is “a rural mountainous area”.
“All international aid is welcome in Morocco but it has to be organised and has to come in a proper way,” he said. “You only have one road, you have a very long column of logistics now trying to get there. You have to make sure the aid is not adding a problem to a problem.
“Many people are speaking about how Morocco can do things better and accept aid, but I would say: Morocco did not refuse international aid, it is trying to channel it in the best way in order to serve the best interests of the population.”
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