Youth-led protests in Morocco demanding better health care and education turned violent on Tuesday night as clashes broke out with security forces in several cities, marking the fourth straight day of unrest.
Hundreds of mostly young demonstrators gathered in the southern towns of Inzegane, Ait Amira and Tiznit, in the eastern city of Oujda and in Temara near the capital Rabat.
Witnesses and local media reported stone-throwing, burning cars and attacks on police vehicles.
Footage shared by local outlets showed masked protesters setting fire to a bank in Inzegane and torching cars.
In Ait Amira, demonstrators overturned police vehicles and burned down a bank. Witnesses told Reuters that in Tiznit dozens of youths hurled stones at officers who tried to disperse the rally.
State news agency MAP reported that a protester in Oujda was seriously injured after being hit by a security forces’ car.
In Rabat, police arrested dozens of young people as they tried to begin chanting slogans in a densely populated neighbourhood, a Reuters witness reported.
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Arrests, injuries
The Moroccan Association for Human Rights (AMDH), a local rights group, said 37 youths were released on bail pending an investigation. It said more than 200 mostly young demonstrators had been arrested in Rabat in recent days, although most were later freed.
Hakim Sikouk, head of AMDH’s Rabat branch, condemned the arrests as unconstitutional.
In Casablanca, 24 protesters who blocked a highway on Sunday were placed under judicial investigation, the public prosecutor said.
The president of a child protection association, Najat Anouar, was detained as she spoke to reporters and freed two hours later.
“I came here to investigate allegations that the under-age have been arrested and got arrested myself,” she told Reuters.
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Anger over inequality
The protests were organised online by a loosely formed youth group called GenZ 212 using TikTok, Instagram and the gaming app Discord.
In a statement posted late on Tuesday on its Facebook page, the group expressed “regret over acts of rioting or vandalism that affected public or private property” and urged participants to stay peaceful and avoid actions that could “undermine the legitimacy of our just demands”.
The movement has grown out of frustration over poor public services and social inequality. Protesters have criticised the government for spending on stadiums for the 2030 Fifa World Cup while hospitals and schools struggle.
“Stadiums are here, but where are the hospitals?” protesters chanted at the weekend.
“We want a better health system and accountability,” 25-year-old Brahim told Reuters in Rabat before fleeing as police moved in to break up the protest.
Morocco’s unemployment rate stands at 12.8 percent, with youth unemployment at 35.8 percent and 19 percent among university graduates, according to the national statistics agency.
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Hospital deaths
Public anger has deepened following reports that eight pregnant women died recently at a public hospital in Agadir. Rights groups say the case has become a symbol of the country’s underfunded health services.
“The arrests confirm the crackdown on free voices and restriction of the right to freedom of expression,” AMDH said in a statement.
The protests have highlighted frustration among young Moroccans and women who feel excluded from the country’s economic progress.
Protesters charged
Prosecutors have charged 37 protesters, most of whom are free on bail, with trials due to start on 7 October, lawyer Souad Brahma told AFP. Three others remain in detention.
In Casablanca, prosecutors have opened an investigation into 18 people accused of obstructing traffic during a weekend protest, MAP reported, adding that six minors were referred to a specialised court.
Morocco’s governing coalition, made up of centre-right and liberal parties, said it was “ready to respond positively and responsibly” to the demands of young protesters. It praised what it called “the balanced reaction of security authorities in line with relevant legal procedures”.
The interior ministry has not commented publicly on the unrest.
GenZ 212 has vowed to keep pushing for health and education reforms as well as action against corruption while maintaining its “love for the homeland”.
(with newswires)
