Grumbling is gaining more and more among the inhabitants of Figuig. And for good reason, the desire of the Moroccan authorities to build a fence and dig trenches could be of a nature to strangle the city.

To stand against this project, 24 local associations and 11 national NGOs have mobilised by addressing a petition to the competent authorities.

Among the national NGOs signatories of this petition figure the Moroccan Organisation for Human Rights, the Moroccan Forum for Truth and Equity, the Medical Association for the Rehabilitation of Victims of Torture, the Democracy and Modernity collective, as well as the Forum of Alternatives of the South.

Their document states the malaise of the inhabitants of this border city with Algeria. The signatories estimate that such a project will infringe on the interests of the latter, because it will deprive them of access to certain zones which are, however, an integral part of the national territory, as is the case of Hay Baba Omar, El Ardja, Zoufzana, etc.

Abdessalam El Kouch, president of Ennahda in Figuig, one of the associations signatory to this petition, affirmed to us in this regard that the realisation of such a project will be fatal for the inhabitants of Figuig, because, according to him, the city has been amputated, for the benefit of Algeria, of a part of its territory, and this since the 60s and the mid-70s. "If this fence sees the light of day, the vital space of Figuig will shrink further compared to the current existing one". Also, the signatories of this petition and the inhabitants of the region condemn the silence observed by the Moroccan authorities regarding the lands despoiled by Algeria, especially since the Green March and the recovery of the Moroccan Sahara. Such is the case of Tasra, Zouzfana, Taghit… If this project is realised, that will be equivalent to a green light given to Algeria to continue to despoil Morocco of certain parts of its territory.

Furthermore, the local section of the USFP in Figuig took the initiative to request an audience with the governor of the city. A meeting was held in this regard, last Thursday, in the presence of delegations of the USFP, the PPS, the RNI, and the FDT, according to a statement from the said local section.

This meeting also had the objective of sensitising the local authorities to the cause of the anger of the inhabitants sparked by such projects that are plotted in the shadows and in the absence of proven and truthful information on their scope.

According to the same source, the inhabitants fear, in the case where this project would be put into construction, of being deprived of the exploitation of their agricultural lands, of further reducing their grazing spaces, and, worse still, of strangling this region and isolating it.

The statement of the USFP section also stressed that the local authorities signified to the participants in this audience that the region is not concerned by the said project, and that in the contrary case, there will be consultation with the inhabitants, civil society, and political society with a view to safeguarding the interests and goods of one and all.

It is appropriate to recall that a protest march was organised at the beginning of last week. The protesters chanted slogans denouncing this project while carrying a fake coffin bearing the inscription: "Figuig is dead".