Demolitions in Rabat Spark Outcry Over Housing Rights

The Moroccan League for Citizenship and Human Rights (LMCDH) joins the anger of hundreds of families living in Rabat who found themselves homeless overnight. A situation that plunges these already vulnerable families into insecurity and fear for the future, forcing them to look for new housing in a difficult economic context marked by widespread inflation. In a report entitled "Human Rights in Morocco between Commitments and Violations", the organization denounces violations of the right to housing.

One of the most striking violations is the demolition of homes in informal neighborhoods without fair compensation or relocation of the affected residents, it says, specifying that cities like Casablanca, Kenitra, Temara and Rabat have experienced waves of demolitions affecting thousands of families. Based on these findings, the league calls for guaranteeing fair compensation for all affected families, providing them with replacement housing or adequate financial assistance, and adopting a social approach in urban restructuring programs rather than resorting to demolition decisions without clear alternatives.

The report also addresses the housing crisis. It points out that it is not limited to demolitions. The report highlights the domination of the real estate market by large developers, who benefit from enormous facilities, such as the acquisition of land at low prices and tax exemptions. But the middle classes and small civil servants suffer from high prices: they face unaffordable prices and the lack of support measures. Cases of corruption within public housing institutions are also mentioned in the report.

A sector company is even accused of "mismanagement and collusion with privileged entrepreneurs". These practices have led to the delay of many social and private housing projects that were supposed to allow thousands of families to access decent housing. To reverse the trend, the LMCDH calls for a thorough reform of housing policies. The organization proposes, among other things, to introduce a progressive tax on large real estate developers in order to limit speculation and promote a more equitable distribution of housing, and to restructure social housing programs to include the middle classes and small civil servants, in particular by allocating them land at reduced prices and facilitating access to advantageous loans.