Morocco's harrowing plight: 'Huge wave of solidarity expressed by all sectors of French society'
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Transcript
00:00 Well, for more, we're joined now in studio by Anne-Claire Lejeune. She is Director of
00:04 Communications at the French Foreign Affairs Ministry. Thank you so much for being with
00:08 us here in studio this morning, Anne-Claire.
00:11 Firstly, France has, of course, offered its condolences to Morocco, said it has pledged
00:16 support as well. But what exactly will that entail?
00:20 Yeah, the emotion in France is immense. You know what special relationship we enjoy with
00:25 Morocco and so there's a huge wave of solidarity expressed by all sectors of the French society.
00:32 The President, yesterday, President Emmanuel Macron and Minister Colonna, expressed our
00:37 condolences, our utmost support and said that we stand ready to offer support to the Moroccan
00:45 Authority in facing this tragedy. So we are waiting for the Moroccan Authority to provide
00:53 for an assessment of their needs. And that's what is being conducted at the moment by the
00:58 Moroccan authorities on the ground. But we stand ready to answer with the appropriate,
01:04 you know, support from what they assess on the ground.
01:08 Because so soon after the disaster, it is, of course, hard to know exactly what kind
01:12 of damage people there are going to be faced with in the coming weeks, the coming months.
01:16 You said there France has a special relationship with Morocco. For French citizens who are
01:21 living there, you've also set up a special hotline. What kind of response has that received?
01:27 So we have indeed set up a special helpline, as we do in time of crisis. We have received
01:33 4000 calls yesterday from French citizens on the ground, but also from France here.
01:40 And we are offering them support in and trying to reassure them on their situation. And so
01:47 far, we have, unfortunately, to deploy one casualty from under a French citizen that
01:54 was struck on the moment of the earthquake. But I really want to underline that we are
02:03 at the side of our French citizens, and moreover, at the side of the Moroccan people who is
02:08 suffering a terrible, terrible tragedy today. And so on the support side of things, I want
02:16 to underline that all our local communities and companies are also, you know, offering
02:22 solidarity and support to the Moroccan authorities.
02:26 And you say one person has unfortunately died. Are there many other French nationals that
02:30 we know of who've been injured?
02:32 We know that eight of them have been injured as well. And so we are offering them support.
02:37 Our embassy on the ground is in contact with them and their family in order to offer them
02:42 the best possible assistance in this condition.
02:44 And there's also, we spoke to Luke Schrago, he's our reporter in Marrakech. She told us
02:48 about people in the airport, French people, tourists, just the state of panic that they
02:52 were in in the immediate aftermath of the earthquake. So that's the kind of support
02:56 you're also offering to people, I presume as well. It's not just for, unfortunately,
03:01 the family of the man who has died and for those injured. It's also for anyone who feels
03:05 that they've been caught up in this disaster, isn't it?
03:08 Yeah, absolutely. We are offering advice and recommendation. We are also advising them
03:12 on the way to travel. People were actually very much concerned about the fact that they
03:19 couldn't leave or they couldn't travel. But as you know, airlines are actually functioning
03:25 with Morocco and so people can travel between France and Morocco and go. And if they want
03:34 to go back to France, they can do it by, you know, the usual ways, I would say.
03:42 So there's no need for special flights to be sent or evacuation efforts. We're not in
03:47 that kind of territory. Anne-Claire, thank you so much for joining us. That is Anne-Claire
03:51 Lejeune, Director of Communications at the French Foreign Affairs Ministry.