105 Foreign Christians Expelled From Morocco Since March

It appears that Morocco's recent crack down on foreign Christians is still continuing. In the last ten days 26 foreign Christians have been expelled from Morocco.

Citing a report from Compass Direct News the ASSIST News report states, "the latest deportations bring the number of Christians who have had to leave Morocco to about 105 since early March."

Here's more.

Compass reported that legal sources said according to Moroccan law, foreigners who have lived in the country for more than 10 years cannot be deported unless they are accused of a crime. They have the right to appeal the deportation order within 48 hours.

With only hours notice and forced escort to the country’s exit ports, almost none of the deportees were able to appeal their deportations.

“Most of these (deportations) are happening over the weekends, when the courts are closed,” Compass reported Sefiane said. “Most of them are done in a way where they’re bringing them in [to the police station], intimidating them, and manhandling them out of the country. Many of them are not even going back to say goodbye to their wives, or even to pack a bag.”

Compass reported with the exception of three foreigners, in none of the forced deportations did authorities produce an official deportation order, sources said. In many cases, Moroccan officials used embassies to notify foreigners that they were being deported. In most cases, foreigners were presented with a document in Arabic for them to sign that stated that they “understood” that they were being deported....

Deported foreigners have had to leave their families behind in Morocco, as well as their friends and communities. Many of the deportees were the male breadwinners of the family and have left their families behind as they try to decide their future.