Rabat, Morocco (TMT)- The former General Manager (GM) of Microsoft Morocco, currently working as GM of Microsoft Last Mile Connectivity, has been subject to a one-hour frustrating investigation in his stop at Heathrow Airport, London, en route to Seattle, US as “the system could not accept my visa,” he wrote in a Facebook post.
“I have been to the US a dozen times with the same visa in the past 3 years, never happened to me,” the man further noted.
This frustrating experience comes in the wake of Donald Trump’s Friday order requiring US border officials to turn away any person arriving from 7 Muslim countries, namely Syria, Iraq, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia and Yemen, for the next 90 days, whether or not they have a green card.
Morocco is not listed among the aforementioned countries and was listed as the only safe country in North Africa according to the last British Foreign Office report, something that may spark various questions regarding the degrading treatment such a high-profile Moroccan Microsoft employee was subject to, and even more questions vis-à-vis the treatment ordinary Moroccans may be subject to when travelling to the “Land of the Free.”
What adds more salt to injury is the fact that Dr. Benmakhlouf pursued all his higher education in the US as he holds a Ph.D in Textile Technology and Management from the University of South Florida (USF), a Master’s degree in Industrial Engineering and Management Systems from USF, and a B.S. in Industrial Engineering and Management Systems from the very same university.
The Moroccan Times.
