Casablanca, Morocco, 4 June – The visit of Foreign Affairs Secretary Delia Domingo Albert to Morocco has resulted in the release of 4 Filipinos currently detained in the Kingdom. This was confirmed today when the Secretary talked to Foreign Minister Mohammed Benaissa over the telephone just before she took her connecting flight to Tripoli.

Earlier, Secretary Albert made representations on behalf of these Filipinos during her bilateral meeting in Rabat with Foreign Minister Benaissa, who agreed to facilitate their release from prison.

“I am pleased to report on the unconditional release of 4 Filipinos who were imprisoned in Morocco. Foreign Minister Benaissa conveyed to me this information and I thanked him for the assistance provided by the Moroccan government on the case,” said the Secretary.

“This kind gesture is reflective of the fair treatment accorded by Moroccan authorities to 250 overseas Filipinos working and residing in the country,” she added.

According to information received by the Philippine Embassy in Tripoli, which has territorial jurisdiction over Morocco, the four Filipinos were transiting in the Kingdom on their way to Italy when they were apprehended by local 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.

Secretary Albert said that the names of the four Filipinos have been withheld for publication until their families in the Philippines have been properly notified and their repatriation has been worked out.
 
“I have instructed Ambassador Malik Marandang to attend to this case and arrange with the Moroccan authorities the immediate repatriation of these Filipinos,” said the Secretary.

“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 added.
 
At present, there are an estimated 250 Filipinos in Morocco, mainly concentrated in Rabat and Casablanca. A majority of these Filipinos are professionals who work either in big companies or in the Moroccan royal household. Until this year, there had been no reported cases of detained Filipinos in Morocco. END.