Youth Unrest Erupts as Morocco Cracks Down on Education Reform Protests

According to information gathered by the EFE agency, a security device was deployed in front of the Parliament to prevent the protesters from gathering. Despite this, some people tried to chant slogans before being dispersed.

More than 70 people were arrested, according to Hakim Sikouk, president of the Rabat section of the Moroccan Association for Human Rights (AMDH). These people, including members of the association, were gradually released after their identity was verified and they were heard, he added. For the moment, the authorities have not confirmed the official number of arrests.

The initiative comes from a group of young people called "Genz212" who have called in recent days on Facebook and Discord to demonstrate in several cities of the kingdom on September 27 and 28 to demand reforms in the education, health and youth employment sectors. In addition to Rabat, the demonstrations were dispersed in other cities such as Casablanca, Tangier and Meknes, it is specified.

The "Genz212" initiative is seen by some observers as a "mobilization closer to a digital indignation of youth than an organized protest movement". The demonstration coincided with another, organized by a group of students to denounce the draft law 59.24 aimed at "ending the free access" to higher education and "privatizing public universities".