Youth-led Protests Turn Deadly in Morocco
At least two people were killed and hundreds of other arrested in Morocco in the midst of current demonstrations against young people against corruption and poor public services. Local authorities said the security forces opened fire on demonstrators in the city of LQLIAA in western Morocco, to prevent them from storming a police station.
The demonstrations broke out for the first time on Saturday with requests to improve education and health services, and have since become the largest popular uprising that the country has seen for years. They are organized by a group called “Genz 212”, a reference to the country’s telephone code.
As we wrote earlier in the week, generation Z and Morocco demonstrations broke out around the world this year, including in Nepal, Indonesia, the Philippines and Kenya. Young activists behind these movements adopted common symbols and tactics, such as the use of the Discord game application to plan rallies and discuss tactics. But each country also has its own political context and its set of questions.
In Morocco, the demonstrators mobilized around the opposition to the next FIFA World Cup, which the country should accommodate in 2030 alongside Spain and Portugal. This has stimulated billions of dollars in public spending to modernize the roads, airports and arenas of the country, even if the schools and hospital systems of the kingdom remain underfunded. Popular songs among the demonstrators include “health first, we do not want the World Cup” and “the stadiums are here, but where are hospitals?”
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According to the World Health Organization, Morocco has less than eight doctors for 10,000 people – it makes it the global average of 17 and well below the WHO recommendation of 25. Beyond the data, specific incidents have galvanized the demonstrators. Eight pregnant women are said to be died last month after receiving cesarean sections in a public hospital in the coastal city of Agadir.
The government of Morocco was initially silent in the face of demonstrations, but Prime Minister Aziz Akhannouch published his first statement on the issue on Thursday, praising the response of the security forces while recognizing the requests of the demonstrators and saying that he is ready for “dialogue and discussion” with them. This suggests that Genz 212 could now face the new challenge much more difficult to translate the requests for their tangible success movement.
Elliot Waldman is the editor -in -chief of World Politics Review.
The events led by young people have become fatal in Morocco appeared first on World Politics Review.
