Young Moroccans protest spending on football stadiums whilst education and healthcare suffer

Over the last four days, Gen-Z voices led one of the largest anti-government protests ever seen in Morocco. Principally, the demonstrators criticized their government’s handling of public money.

In particular, they called out the under-funding of healthcare and education – all whilst huge sums are being ploughed into building football stadiums.

‘But where are the hospitals?’

In preparation to host the FIFA 2030 world cup and the African Cup of Nations, Morocco is building three brand new stadiums and renovating six more. It’s also planning to invest over £3bn into infrastructure expansion, more than doubling the capacity of its main airports.

Meanwhile, the North African nation has just eight doctors per 10,000 people. That’s far below the World Health Organization’s recommended 25 doctors for the same number. Earlier in September, eight pregnant people died at a public hospital, prompting widespread outrage.

In response to this massive disparity, hundreds of Moroccans hit the streets in protest over the weekend. They were led, in part, by the social media-based ‘GenZ 212’ movement. Mohammed Masbah, of the Moroccan Institute for Policy Analysis, explained that:

This is a decentralised, leaderless and fluid organisation, or let’s say, network.

They don’t have any leader and are not affiliated to any political party or union. That makes it difficult for authorities to negotiate or co-opt them because they don’t know who they are.

On its Facebook page, the two-week-old GenZ 212 called for:

peaceful demonstrations … to express popular demands related to health, education and social justice.

The demonstrations took place in at least 11 cities across Morocco, including Casablanca, Rabat, Marrakesh and Agadir. Protesters chanted slogans like “Stadiums are here, but where are the hospitals?”

‘Systematic violence’ in Morocco

Police officers responded to the protests with extreme violence and repressive tactics. Officers arrested demonstrators whilst they were giving interviews. Footage showed a police van drive directly into a crowd of young people, rolling over several individuals without slowing.

The police reported that they had made over 200 arrests since Saturday. A spokesperson for the Moroccan Association for Human Rights stated that:

Systematic violence [has been used] against a group of young people who were demonstrating peacefully.

Security forces responded violently. We condemn these arrests and deem it unacceptable to take a security-oriented approach to the social demands of a group of young people.

By Tuesday, the protests had escalated to the point that demonstrators were hurling rocks at riot-gear-clad security forces. Eyewitnesses also reported that vehicles had been set ablaze.

In a statement posted late last night, GenZ 212 expressed “regret over acts of rioting or vandalism that affected public or private property”. It also urged protesters not to “undermine the legitimacy of our just demands”.

37 young people have been bailed out, pending investigation. For its part, the Moroccan government issued a statement on Tuesday claiming that it would negotiate with the protesters “within institutions and public spaces to find realistic solutions”. However, the statement also praised what it called “the balanced reaction of security authorities in line with relevant legal procedures”.

Featured image via the Canary