By Pascal Ibe
A thirty seconds viral video showing the brutal assault of black passengers by airport officials, has continued to trend on many WhatsApp groups since Sunday.
In one of the WhatsApp groups named Past Anambra Market Leaders Forum, a group admin shared the video and claimed that a black passenger was violently beaten up at the airport by a horde of airport agents and staff ” working for Royal Air Morocco.
According to the group admin, the passengers waited at the airport for 2 days. They then announced that only “non-black Africans” should board.
“When Black Africans protested, they were beaten and accused of threatening the police. A Senegalese passenger is beaten like an animal. WHERE ARE THE BLACK AFRICAN COMPANIES???!!
The caption reads, “😡😱🤯 Morocco blocks a video on Facebook showing a BLACK PASSENGER IN TRANSIT savagely and violently beaten at the airport by a horde of airport agents and staff ” Royal Air Morocco ???!!! LIKE AN ANIMAL😭😳 and it’s Africa?! Impossible to share it on Facebook, it is circulating on Watssap (we must show this video to Africa, to the whole world) BOYCOTT FROM Royal Air Maroc. The company had few working planes and was overbooked. The passengers waited at the airport for 2 days. They then announced that only “non-black Africans” should board. When Black Africans protested, they were beaten and accused of threatening the police. A Senegalese passenger is beaten like an animal. WHERE ARE THE BLACK AFRICAN COMPANIES???!!!“
Verification
Verifying this claim, crimefacts news findings indicated that the incident didn’t happen in Morocco.
When the video was checked on INVID search technology, it showed that the video is an old incident that took place in July 2022.
A Google image reverse search brought out images from this incident with a report by TheMirror on how the incident happened at Tunis-Carthage airport, Tunisia i July 2022.
According to TheMirror report, Tunisair cancelled flights and reportedly does not have enough aircrafts fit for flying.
Following multiple flights being cancelled, passengers were left trapped for days in Tunis-Carthage airport without hotels or temporary visas.
The report stated that following multiple flights being cancelled, passengers were left trapped for days in Tunis-Carthage airport without hotels or temporary visas.
People who were forced to stay behind at the airport, many of whom were Sub-Saharan African passengers, were callously beaten by Tunisian security forces for reportedly assaulting the police.
However, the brutal footage shows baton-wielding police savagely attacking the air passengers who fall to the floor in agony.
Tunisia’s Mosaique FM news website said eight passengers, accused of assaulting security guards at Tunis Carthage International Airport, were arrested. The website failed to mention any violence, or show the video illustrating the brutal events.
Also a report by The New Arab , revealed that Senegalese flight passengers were subjected to a number of racist incidents in the Tunisian capital’s airport earlier this week, sparking outrage online.
In 2022, the Tunis-Carthage international airport experienced a number of cancelled flights and delays, leaving passengers stranded in airports.
Activists say that passengers from non-sub-Saharan African countries were favoured with respect to being put on a flight, whereas passengers from sub-Saharan African countries – notably Senegal – were left with no flight to travel on.
Authorities can also be seen putting a passenger in a chokehold amid the chaos, handcuffing him later and taking him away, while fellow airport goers can be heard proclaiming the victim’s innocence.
The attacks against the passengers allegedly took place following a flight delay from the airport to Senegal. According to the Francophone pan-African daily Jeune Afrique, Tunisia has very few aircrafts ready to take flight, leading to chaos and a number of flight cancellations.
The chaos comes as several passenger were flying out to their respective home countries in time for Eid al-Adha celebrations, leaving several people unable to make it on time.
The New Arab report said the Tunisian airport union claims that the Senegalese passengers were the first to attack.
Verdict
The claim that the video were black passengers were recently assaulted by Morocco airport officials is Misleading and Old.
Findings showed that the incident happened at Tunis-Carthage airport in July 2022
