Casablanca Officials Reject Amazigh Baby Name, Sparking Controversy

When Brahim El Abdeloui, the child’s father, proposed the first name to the Civil Status Commission of District 2 of Salam, in the Sidi Moumen district, on February 28, he was told that this first name does not appear on the list of first names registered in the civil status registers of the Ministry of the Interior.

Seized of the file, the lawyer and activist of the Amazigh Movement, Ahmed Arhmouch, told Morocco World News that the civil status services had indeed told the family of little "Silya" that the first name does not appear in the civil status registers of the Ministry of the Interior, dating back to the 1990s. According to him, this refusal goes against the ministerial decisions published in 2014 by the Ministry of the Interior on the subject, and the Constitution of July 2011. Moroccans are allowed to choose the first name of their children. But these first names must not undermine morality or public order.

To help the parents prevail, lawyer Arhmouch sent an open letter to the Head of Government Saad-Eddine El Othmani, the Minister of the Interior, Abdelouafi Laftit, and the Minister of State in charge of Human Rights, Mustapha Ramid. He also asked for "the cancellation of all racist judicial procedures in Moroccan administrations". Finally, Arhmouch calls on the government to strictly respect international human rights agreements and the fight against racism.