Anger brews in Morocco’s neglected Rif region
AL-HOCEIMA, Morocco: In Morocco’s neglected Rif region, where outrage erupted last year over the gruesome death of a fishmonger, calls for justice have evolved into a grassroots movement demanding jobs and hospitals. Mouhcine Fikri, 31, was crushed in a rubbish truck in October in the northern city of Al-Hoceima as he tried to protest against the seizure and destruction of swordfish, which were not allowed to be caught at that time of year.
His death in the Rif - an ethnically Berber region long marginalized and at the heart of a 2011 protest movement for reform - briefly sparked protests nationwide and added to long-standing grievances in his hometown. “We’re the sons of the poor, simple people who have taken to the street to say no to tyranny. We’re not asking for anything exceptional just the rehabilitation of our devastated region,” says activist Nasser Zefzafi.
Broadcasting passionate speeches online in the local Tarifit dialect from his home or the street, the unemployed 39-year-old has become the face of the new movement demanding economic inclusion for the Rif. “The martyrdom of Mouhcine Fikri, which was the consequence of years of the same state policy, was the last straw. The trial was a farce, the judgement shameful,” says Zefzafi, the leader of the AlHirak al-Shaabi, or “Popular Movement”. “For six months we have been resisting... And we will resist until they respond to our demands for the economic and social development of our region,” he says.
‘No money, no work’
With its apartment blocks hugging the mountain and its main square overlooking the blue Mediterranean Sea, Al-Hoceima would seem like a normal seaside city if it were not for the heavy presence of policemen in plain clothes and uniform. Weekend protests are common in this city of 60,000 inhabitants, with police immediately moving in to contain the demonstrators and prevent them from marching to the city center.
With the exception of a high school student protest in late March, all demonstrations have been peaceful. The demands are always the same: Jobs, roads, universities, hospitals and investment. Long excluded from state development plans and with little agricultural produce, the Rif region is economically devastated. —AFP