Violent Clashes Erupt in Rabat Slum Over Relocation Plan

28 August 2019 – byBladi.net · 1 min read

Residents of the El Garaa douar, one of the oldest slums in Rabat, clashed with the police. This confrontation, filmed and posted on Youtube on August 26, 2019, follows the decision of the local authorities to relocate them to the Aïn Aouda region, on the outskirts of the capital.

As part of the "Rabat City of Light" project, the government plans to rehouse the residents of this neighborhood to the outskirts of the capital. They are offered apartments worth 100,000 dirhams or plots of land in the Aïn Aouda district, south of Rabat, in compensation for the demolished houses.

Squatting these premises for several decades, these residents have opposed this decision, arguing that they do not have enough means to afford this luxury or to rebuild a house.

Since 2017, these residents have not failed to protest against the authorities’ projects. Some of them demonstrated in 2017 near Bab Soufara (Gate of the Ambassadors), around the royal palace in Rabat.