RIYADH, 9 June 2004 — Four Filipinos who were being held in Morocco for possessing illegal travel papers have been freed, a Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs statement monitored here yesterday said.
The four Filipinos, whose identities have been withheld pending notification of their families, were released following a meeting between Foreign Affairs Secretary Delia Domingo Albert and Moroccan Foreign Minister Mohammed Benaissa, according to the statement.
It reported that Benaissa confirmed the good news during a telephone conversation just before Albert took her connecting flight to Tripoli, Libya.
“I am pleased to report on the unconditional release of 4 Filipinos who were imprisoned in Morocco... This kind gesture is reflective of the fair treatment accorded by Moroccan authorities to 250 overseas Filipinos working and residing in the country,” Albert was quoted by the statement as saying.
The Philippine Embassy in Tripoli, which has territorial jurisdiction over Morocco, reported that the four Filipinos were on their way to Italy when they were apprehended by Moroccan authorities “because of improper documentation.”
“There are a growing number of cases involving Filipinos, with fake documentation and visas, who use Morocco as a transit point to get to Europe,” said the statement.
Albert said she had instructed Ambassador Malik Marandang “to attend to the case and arrange with the Moroccan authorities the immediate repatriation of these Filipinos.”
“The Ambassador assured me that he will give this matter top priority and will send regular updates on the case for purposes of monitoring,” she was quoted in the statement.
The Philippine Embassy in Rabat has estimated the number of Filipinos in Morocco at 250, mainly concentrated in Rabat and Casablanca. Most of them are said to be professionals working either in big companies or in the Moroccan royal household.
“Until this year, there had been no reported cases of detained Filipinos in Morocco,” according to the statement.
During her visit to Morocco, Secretary Albert signed with Minister Benaissa an agreement to set up a Joint Commission for Bilateral Cooperation (JCBC) and another on the Abolition of Visa Requirements for Holders of Diplomatic, Official, Service and Special Passports.
The agreements are seen to be the fruits of a meeting between President Gloria Arroyo and King Mohammed VI of Morocco during the 10th Summit of the Organization of Islamic Conference in Malaysia in 2003.
Secretary Albert also took the occasion to invite Morocco to participate in the Multi-Donor Program in the southern Philippines, especially on the training and capability-building of Muslim youth leaders.
