Rabat Launches Campaign to Clear Homeless from Public Spaces

Complying with the instructions of the services under the Ministry of the Interior in the city of Rabat, the local authorities are overseeing cleaning campaigns in several neighborhoods, including the administrative district of Hassan. These campaigns target in particular the beggars, the vagrants and the homeless, who concentrate in large numbers around the administrations and public institutions. "These actions are mainly aimed at removing the vagrants and the homeless from public spaces to avoid any damage to the image of the city of Rabat as the capital of the kingdom. These people are then welcomed in dedicated social centers, such as the Ain Aouda complex, the Espoir complex and the social center located in the old medina," explains an anonymous source to Hespress.

She also stressed that these ongoing initiatives are part of a desire to remedy certain social phenomena that do not respect the infrastructural progress achieved by Rabat. These phenomena remain visible in prestigious neighborhoods like Agdal and Souissi. An associative activist in the city adds: "some neighborhoods of Rabat are experiencing a proliferation of begging, including child begging, a phenomenon punished by Article 326 of the Penal Code, and which damages the reputation of the country, especially in a context where it is preparing to host international events".

Morocco is preparing to host the Africa Cup of Nations (CAN) in 2025 and the World Cup it will co-host with Spain and Portugal in 2030. Ramy insisted that "the nature of these deadlines and the image the state wishes to project abroad necessarily require an intensification of efforts to house the homeless in all Moroccan cities. This also involves the creation of additional centers and shelters, with high standards, to encourage this population category to integrate into them. Similarly, it requires tackling the phenomenon of begging through multidimensional approaches combining solidarity, social and sometimes repressive aspects, as not all beggars are truly in need."

In the eyes of the associative activist, "the campaigns aimed at gathering and housing the homeless, street children and beggars in social care homes and centers under the national cooperation, carried out by the local authorities in Rabat, are of great importance and have significant human dimensions, especially during the drop in temperatures during the fall and winter seasons." And to add: "these campaigns preserve the dignity of these people by providing them with the necessary support and medical care in these centers. The realization of dignity for all is part of the commitments made by the Moroccan state, as stipulated in the preamble to the Constitution."