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As demonstrations in more than a dozen cities have roiled Morocco for weeks, the young people behind them have shown they can turn digital discontent into a real-world movement that authorities cannot ignore.
The North African country is the latest country to be hit by “Gen Z” protests against corruption, lack of opportunity and business as usual. There is a possibility of new protests on Saturday.
Similar movements have increased in countries like madagascarKenya, Peru and Nepal. They are fundamentally different, but refuse to go to institutions like political parties or unions and have their voices heard.
In Morocco, anger is boiling over the contradictions between government spending on stadiums in the lead-up to the 2030 FIFA World Cup and a substandard health system that lags behind countries with similar-sized economies.
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meet the protesters
A leaderless group was called for Gen Z 212 – named after Morocco’s dialing code – is the engine behind the protests. members debate strategy discordA chat app popular among gamers and teens. The core group has about 180,000 members, but spinoffs organizing independent demonstrations in towns have also emerged.
Gen Z Like other countries affected by the protests, Morocco is experiencing a youth boom, with more than half the population under 35. Yet, as the country has spent billions of dollars in infrastructure and tourism, unemployment for Moroccans aged 15–24 has risen to 36%. And because of the lack of opportunity, more than half of Moroccans under the age of 35 say they have considered emigrating, according to a June survey by the non-partisan research network Afrobarometer.
When demonstrations turned violent earlier this month, authorities said most participants were minors and rights groups said many of those detained were under the age of 18.
what they are opposing
Morocco is Africa’s most visited country, attracting tourists from all over the world with its medieval castles, bustling markets and sweeping mountain and desert landscapes. But not far from the tourist routes, the daily reality for most of Morocco’s 37 million people involves rising costs of living and stagnant wages.
The North African kingdom has made significant progress in raising living standards, but development has been uneven and critics say it has exacerbated inequalities.
Morocco has Africa’s only high-speed rail line and is building seven new stadiums and renovating seven others in preparation for the World Cup. There are plans to spend more than $5 billion on infrastructure for the event, some of which will also come from the private sector. Yet with a monthly minimum wage of about $300, many remain mired in poverty in areas where roads are unpaved, hospitals lack doctors and classrooms are underfunded and overcrowded.
There are only 7.7 medical professionals per 10,000 inhabitants in Morocco and far fewer in parts of the south and east, where protests have become most heated. The public health system provides more than 80% of care, but pays for only 40%, with the rest private or out-of-pocket.
Before Gen Z 212, local protests against regional inequalities and government priorities had begun, including in Al Hawz, where many people have been living in tents for more than two years after the deadly 2023 earthquake. Anger boiled over after eight women died in childbirth in a public hospital in the coastal city of Agadir in September. Despite its renovated airport and reputation as a destination for tourists, the city is the capital of one of Morocco’s poorest provinces where residents have decried the lack of doctors and quality medical care.
Protesters angry at corruption have compared the government to the mafia and targeted Prime Minister Aziz Akhannouch and Health Minister Amin Tahraoui, his former business associate. Akhnouch, one of Morocco’s richest men, controls most of the country’s gas stations, and one of his companies recently won a controversial government contract for new desalination projects.
According to the magazine Jeune Afrique, Moroccan business interests, including the royal family’s investment fund Al Mada, also anticipate substantial profits from World Cup-related developments, including new stadiums, train lines and hotels.
Key mantras of Gen Z
The protesters chanted, “The stadiums are here, but where are the hospitals?” A jab at Morocco’s spending on spectacle projects for the World Cup and what many see as the government’s blindness to everyday difficulties.
“Freedom, dignity and social justice” is another slogan taken from previous movements, which denounces limited political freedoms and economic exclusion, without offering specific demands for reform.
demands of protesters
Gen Z 212 published a letter addressed to King Mohammed VI asking him to convene a government forum to dismiss the government and corrupt political parties, release detainees, and hold officials accountable.
The political demands differed from previously vague demands for dignity and social justice, and reflected a widespread feeling that Morocco had not made serious progress in addressing the problems the king had vowed to address during the 2017 mass demonstrations. At the time, he acknowledged that development had not happened enough to benefit everyone.
Although the king is the country’s supreme authority, Gen Z protesters vented their anger on government officials and called on them to monitor reforms. Many people were shouting in the streets: “The people want the king to intervene.”
Addressing parliament this month, the king defended Morocco’s vision for the future, arguing that large-scale projects and social programs could move forward together. He reflected some of the protesters’ grievances but did not directly address the movement.
“Social justice is not a temporary priority,” he said. “There should be no contradiction or competition between major national projects and social programs, because both have the same goal: to develop the country and improve the living conditions of citizens, wherever they are.”
How has the government responded
Security forces have alternated between action and retreat.
Riot police and plainclothes officers made mass arrests of protesters over the weekend of 27 and 28 September. Police Protesters in a small town outside Agadir were fired upon claiming they were attacking one of their checkpoints in early October, killing three, and in the eastern city of Oujda a police van ran over protesters, wounding one.
But elsewhere, security forces reduced their presence, standing aside as rioters and looters set cars on fire and vandalized storefronts.
According to Human Rights Watch, Moroccan courts have handed down several convictions in connection with the protests, with sentences ranging from four to 20 years for vandalism and incitement.
After the initial protests, Akhnouch and several of his cabinet members said the government was ready to negotiate with the protesters and suggested strengthening existing hospitals with additional staff and opening new medical facilities.
But as Moroccans watch stadiums be built in just a few months, the promises of change to many protesters have rang hollow as no officials have yet proposed redirecting stadium funds to social services.
“The government is taking concrete steps to ease the pressure,” protester Yusuf, 27, said. “Their reforms will take years.”
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