US Consulate in Morocco is Arrogant, dismissive and disdainful towards US citizens of Moroccan Origin.

  By A. Maghraoui

As though it is not enough that The United States Image overseas & in the Muslim world in particular is in need of some luster and shine, the US consular officials in Morocco, one of the most liberal Muslim countries, are doing their best to further tarnish America’s image by equally mistreating US Citizens of Moroccan origins and Moroccan Citizens. If you are unfortunate and have some business with the consulate, no one will answer your telephone calls and if you are insolent enough to call more than once and leave the phone ring several times; someone will answer the phone and forward your call to an answering machine, that will hang up on you. Dismissive, arrogant and unresponsive attitude is generalized among consular staff. If you show up at the consulate in person, it will be a throw back to the seventies; at the worst of a repressive era; A Moroccan police officer, at the service of the US consulate, barks loud orders for all people to line up in a tight row on the sidewalk in a street across from the consulate and you better be quick or you would be ejected from the line and sent away regardless of the nature of your business. People walking by are bewildered by this unusual sight; a line of meek civilians in a sidewalk surrounded by police officers barking orders left and right. When the time is up, you are sent across the street to a hired security guard sitting under an umbrella who will frisk you and send you across the street towards a set of windows on the outside wall of the US Consulate. Once you get there you will be told by a local agent sitting behind a thick window to send an email to the consul and wait for his reply. And, do not be in a hurry because your email will remain unanswered, or if you get a reply it will be generic and uninformative. The experience and feelings at this sole point of contact between both Moroccan citizens & US citizens and the US Government is a disgrace and contributes greatly to further degrade the image of the US in Morocco, one of the most liberal Muslim countries in the region. The highhanded, dismissive and careless attitude towards all comers negates the efforts done by various ONGs, other US government agencies and  the Moroccan American Communities in the states that work hard to build bridges between the two countries.