Violence breaks out in Morocco as anti-government protests rage for fourth day

RABAT, Morocco 

Anti-government demonstrations gripped Morocco for the fourth night in a row as young people filled the streets of cities and destruction and violence broke out in several places.

With billions in investment flowing toward preparations for the 2030 World Cup, promises to fix Morocco’s strained social services have not quelled anger from internet-savvy youth, who launched some of the country’s biggest street protests in years.

The “Gen Z” demonstrations mirror similar unrest sweeping countries such as Nepal and Madagascar.

Young Moroccans clashed with security forces on Tuesday as they decried the dire state of many schools and hospitals. 

After dozens of peaceful protesters were arrested over the weekend, violence broke out in several cities, especially in areas where jobs are scarce and social services lacking.

“The right to health, education and a dignified life is not an empty slogan but a serious demand,” the organisers of the Gen Z212 protest movement wrote in a statement published on Discord. They cited King Mohammed VI, implored protesters to remain peaceful and criticised “repressive security approaches”.

Still, the protests have escalated and become more destructive, particularly in cities far from where development efforts have been concentrated in Morocco.

Local outlets and footage filmed by witnesses showed protesters hurling rocks and setting vehicles ablaze in cities and towns in the country’s east and south, including in Inzegane and Ait Amira.

In Oujda, eastern Morocco’s largest city, one person was injured when a police vehicle rammed into demonstrators, local human rights groups and the state news agency MAP said.

Morocco’s interior ministry said the anonymously organised protests lacked authorisation and were dealt with according to the law, noting that those found to be breaking the law would be treated “rigorously and firmly”. 

It said 409 people were taken into police custody.

It said 263 members of law enforcement were injured during the nationwide protests that also damaged 142 of their vehicles. Twenty private cars were also damaged and 23 civilians were injured, the ministry said.

The Moroccan Association for Human Rights (AMDH) said 37 protesters had been arrested in Oujda on Monday, among them six minors, and would appear in court on Wednesday.

They are among the hundreds that AMDH said had been apprehended, including many whose arrests were captured on video by local media and some who were detained by plainclothes officers during interviews.