After arriving in the capital, Rabat, a number of those excluded from the "Integrated Program for Reconstruction and General Rehabilitation of Areas Affected by the Al Haouz Earthquake" sought to convey their voices and complex demands to the relevant authorities. They emphasized, in general, that they "are still awaiting justice, considering that they meet the criteria for benefiting from this Royal program, which concerns the victims of the September 8, 2023, tragedy."
Individuals affiliated with the "Al Haouz Earthquake Victims Coordination" attempted, during a seminar hosted at the headquarters of the Moroccan Association for Human Rights this Friday, to point out what they considered "procedural violations and abuses" in calculating the number of beneficiaries, whether for the monthly support set at 2,500 dirhams or for the construction and repair support ranging between 80,000 and 140,000 dirhams. They reminded the audience that, "unfortunately, many victims are still living in cold plastic tents that become even colder during the winter season."
Criticized justifications
The discussion began with Montassir Ithri, one of the affected individuals who did not receive support in the Al Haouz province. He stated that "the Minister of Interior recently had the courage to point out that families benefited from support without being entitled to it, while he did not mention the examples of families who deserve this support but have not received it, despite up to 15 months having passed. Official figures, in general, still require much scrutiny and verification."
Ithri stressed in his intervention that "the suffering of the earthquake victims remains an undeniable reality, as many of them still live in tents that are cold in winter and hot in summer. The harsh climatic conditions in which individuals live in the provinces affected by the disaster are very severe, and that is why we tried to convey their voice to public opinion," adding: "We have previously submitted complaints to the local and provincial authorities regarding the matter. Furthermore, I personally submitted a complaint to the Royal Court."
According to the same speaker, "this issue involves a set of problems and constraints, as the value of the support received by most families is not enough to build an earthquake-resistant house. Most of them only benefited from 80,000 dirhams, while the value mentioned in the Royal Court's statement, which set it at 140,000 dirhams for owners of completely destroyed houses, is no longer being discussed at all," explaining that "the victims are not convinced by the justifications for their exclusion from support, which are mainly determined by the fact that they are not permanent residents, simply because they work outside the Douars."
He also noted that "the Ombudsman institution also replied to us stating it lacked jurisdiction after we directed our complaints to it, and the same applies to the local authorities, which have not responded to our demands to this day," clarifying that anyone "who wants to verify the condition of the earthquake victims should take a field tour, which remains sufficient to clarify the reality as it is, which consists of deserving people not benefiting from this support."
The silence of the authorities
El Houssine El Bani, a victim in the "Tizi n'Test" commune in the Taroudant province, who owns a completely destroyed house, said: "Regarding the victims who received support, they are in various stages of repair and reconstruction, while we have not benefited at all. We continue to file complaints, but to no avail, as we were excluded for unrealistic reasons and were considered non-permanent residents, which meant we did not benefit from any support whatsoever."
El Bani explained in his intervention that "this is a Royal program for the benefit of earthquake victims, and it should be comprehensive for everyone as stated in the Royal Court's statement earlier. The problem currently is that they tell us we must wait longer, perhaps we will benefit later," noting that "the Ministry of Interior must address all these matters."
The speaker pointed out that "although we number in the thousands, many of us could not come to Rabat, including widows, elderly women, and people with disabilities. Our goal in this regard is to convey our appeal to the relevant authorities and for us to also benefit from our right to support."
Lack of information
Still in the Taroudant province, Youssef Ed-Deeb, who did not benefit from the support, considered that "this file, in general, is marred by a set of violations, primarily the lack of information at the administrative level, as the non-beneficiary victim finds themselves before the administrations to no avail," explaining that "the reasons for which we were excluded from support do not align with what was stated in the Royal Court's statement, as we believe it defined who would benefit as being a victim in the end, and the Arabic language is clear as we believe."
Ed-Deeb said: "At a time when we were excluded, others benefited from the support who have stables and others whose houses were demolished more than twenty years ago; this is fundamentally unacceptable," explaining that "many of these problems are caused by local authority agents, although there is no material evidence for that which we can argue with," concluding finally that "we hope that officials will listen to our grievances so that perhaps we may be granted justice; for over a year we have been calling for the resolution of our file."
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