Moroccan Youth Erupt in Protests, Demanding Healthcare Over World Cup

This is undoubtedly one of the largest mobilizations against the government in recent years. At the initiative of GenZ 212, which launched calls to demonstrate on Facebook, TikTok and Discord on September 27 and 28, many young Moroccans stormed the streets to demand reforms in the education and health sectors and to say stop to the corruption that is reaching alarming proportions in the kingdom. "We want hospitals, not stadiums!", "We don’t want the World Cup, we want healthcare!", "The people want an end to corruption!", chanted the protesters among other slogans.

The young Moroccans took the opportunity to express their despair. "There is no more hope," said Youssef, a 27-year-old engineer who participated in the demonstration in Casablanca, to the press. "I don’t just want reforms in the health and education sectors, I want a reform of the entire system. I want better salaries, better jobs, lower prices and a better life," he added. "We want Morocco to be in a better situation and for citizens to be treated as human beings, and not as is currently the case, where the country is moving at two speeds," denounced another 19-year-old protester in Rabat on Sunday.

While hospitals are overwhelmed, the Moroccan government is investing in costly projects such as the organization of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations and the 2030 World Cup that Morocco will co-host with Spain and Portugal, denounce the young people who blame the authorities for concentrating the country’s resources on the construction and renovation of stadiums. "We don’t want the World Cup, we want healthcare," can be read on the placards waved by the protesters. "We have increased spending, we have built hospitals in all regions," defends Prime Minister Aziz Akhannouch.

The demonstrations were harshly repressed by the police. The Moroccan Association for Human Rights (AMDH) confirmed more than a hundred arrests in Rabat, Casablanca, Marrakech, Agadir and Souk Sebt. Some people were released after spending the night at the police station. The president of the Rabat section of the AMDH, Hakim Sikouk, condemned the repression and warned against a regression of freedoms. Several opposition parties and human rights organizations have criticized this excessive repression of the protesters, urging the government to favor dialogue. For its part, the GenZ 212 movement assures that its initiative is "peaceful and patriotic". Observers see in these demonstrations "a youthful digital indignation rather than an organized movement".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7sDvN45PT4