A Moroccan airline is being accused of discrimination after it refused to accommodate African passengers.
When a 9:00 AM flight was rescheduled for 9:00 PM the following day, Royal Moroccan airlines decided to book hotels for all of its American passengers. However, Air Maroc did not accommodate its African passengers. Many African guests were forced to wait in the airport for over 24 hours.
In a video which has gone viral, a Liberian minister named Eugene Fahngon can be seen calling out the Air Maroc officials for their blatant racism.
Fahngon stated:
“We can not charge the Liberian [passengers] ticket $ 1,600 and let them sleep on the ground while the American passengers, who also paid $ 1,600, have a hotel room. Pay 100 dollars for each person or you will pay them hundreds of dollars.”
In the video, he can also be heard threatening officials with a lawsuit.
Liberia's Minister Eugene Fahngon engaging Air Maroc officials for discriminating.
A 9am scheduled flight was cancelled and rescheduled for 9pm the next day. U.S passengers were given hotel rooms whilst Liberians and other Africans were left to sleep on the floor at the terminal pic.twitter.com/JCcf9syjjQ
— Facts About Africa (@OnlyAfricaFacts) August 19, 2018
According to TelQuel, the airline has stated that some of its passengers required a visa in order to leave the airport.
We kindly remind our passengers in transit that a visa is required for some nationalities to exit the airport and therefore get access to hotels.
Thank you for your understanding.— RAM Assistance (@RAM_Assistance) August 18, 2018
Not everyone, it seems, accepted the airline’s response.
Thank God I don’t fly this airline.
Listen, YOU as the service provider are the ones who messed up- those people DID NOT WANT ENTRY INTO YOUR COUNTRY. YOU**** delayed & kept them there & so YOU should‘ve prioritized ALL your passengers & made them comfortable. It’s common sense.— ThickCurvesSensation (@BrooklynVyolesa) August 19, 2018
One Twitter user stated:
“Thank God I don’t fly this airline.
Listen, YOU as the service provider are the ones who messed up – those people DID NOT WANT ENTRY INTO YOUR COUNTRY. YOU**** delayed & kept them there & so YOU should’ve prioritized ALL your passengers & made them comfortable. It’s common sense.
This is not an excuse! Airport immigration should be able give temporary visas to get passengers out for the night. This has happened to me times before with @KLM and officers at @Schiphol took care of it easily. They are your passengers, it is your delay so your responsibility!
— Tina Musoke (@tinamusoke) August 20, 2018
Tina Musoke tweeted:
This is not an excuse! Airport immigration should be able [to] give temporary visas to get passengers out for the night. This has happened to me times before with @KLM and officers at @Schiphol took care of it easily. They are your passengers, it is your delay so your responsibility!
Our leaders have to have these mindset to always stand up for the interest of their people.
Liberians must be proud of having such— azariah (@muzhakucha) August 19, 2018
Another Twitter user, @muzhakucha, praised Fahngon for standing up for Liberian and African people:
“Our leaders have to have these mindsets to always stand up for the interest of their people.
Liberians must be proud of having such.”
The airline was eventually able to get visas and hotels for the African guests.
Featured Image via Wikimedia Commons.
