Youth protests sweep across Moroccan cities
Youth-led demonstrations calling for better hospitals and schools spread across Moroccan cities late on Monday. Dozens of people were detained in Rabat, Casablanca, Agadir, Tangier, and Oujda, according to witnesses and rights groups.
The demonstrations were reportedly coordinated online by “GenZ 212,” a loose group that has relied on TikTok, Instagram, and Discord to mobilize supporters. Another network, Morocco Youth Voices, also urged participants to take to the streets, framing the protests as peaceful assemblies intended to spark debate over social policy.
Unrest was first reported in Agadir, where frustration about hospital conditions spread quickly through social media to other urban centers. According to the Moroccan Association for Human Rights, as cited by AP, more than 120 people have been detained since the weekend.
Officials rejected allegations that preparations for the 2030 World Cup, which Morocco is co-hosting with Spain and Portugal, have been draining resources from essential services.
Prime Minister Aziz Akhannouch, who also serves as mayor of Agadir, defended his government’s record. “We managed reforms, upgraded the spendings and we are in the process of building hospitals in all the country’s regions,” Akhannouch said as quoted by AP. He acknowledged that Agadir’s main hospital has faced chronic shortages and suffers from outdated infrastructure.
Morocco’s population is heavily skewed to the young demographic. Half of the country is below the age of 25.
Similar youth-led demonstrations have recently shaken other countries. In Madagascar, protests over power and water shortages prompted the government to be dissolved on Monday.
In Nepal, youth-led protests against a nationwide ban on numerous social media platforms and corruption broke out in early September. The unrest ultimately forced the resignation of Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli.
