Morocco's Homelessness During a Global Pandemic

Everyone deserves to be safe. Protecting the people from COVID-19 is Morocco’s first priority.

Article By Oumnia Labriti

All countries and kingdoms around the world were hit with devastation because of the Coronavirus. The global pandemic is a living nightmare for human life across borders, nationalities, ages, and colors, for it affects the world economically, socially, politically, and mentally. Of course, the impact has been greatly proportional in many ways and so each nation’s decision for handling the pandemic and enforcing policies differs. Like the others, Morocco has its own, unique way. Essential to the Moroccan economy, it’s position as a North African country with extensive ties to Europe is now presenting numerous economic and social challenges. Morocco has had to face these challenges on various economic, legal, and social fronts.

With the country shut down, the Moroccan government predicted significant losses in the tourism, automobile, and textile industries. The Minister of Employment and Professional Integration has stated that a total of 113,000 companies have halted work operations. The Minister also said that more than 700,000 employees have been unable to work or have been laid off. As a result, many of them were victims of homelessness. In the emergency, more vulnerability and starvation awaited temporary workers, street vendors, and all those in the informal economy that account for more than 20 percent of the GDP- which is not a small amount of people!

In addition, another economic impact of COVID-19 is the drastic reduction of funds from the Moroccan diaspora which many families depend on. Morocco’s diaspora plays a big role in their homeland’s economy. Around 69% of Moroccans Residing Abroad (MRE) transfer around 1/4 of their annual income back home. Morocco has temporarily prevented hiring in the public sector, except in security and health sectors, as it would accommodate a more extreme measure in tackling the coronavirus crisis. So, those that cannot work in these areas end up homeless most of the time.

Moroccan experts confirmed that the government has already started taking many measures regarding this category within the streets of Moroccan cities. They also stressed that the displaced are the foremost vulnerable and most dangerous group to spread the COVID disease, as they are barren of all means of protection and prevention, and even if they are infected, they are rarely examined and treated. The homeless are considered the most virus carriers. Every place they have moved to and everything they have touched, becomes a danger to everyone, so, as word of advice from those in Morocco, all countries should house this category, at least in light of these difficult moments.

Morocco's Homelessness

Here in Morocco, there are tens of thousands of displaced people. People of all ages try to live on the streets of the largest Moroccan cities, and most of them have health, psychological, or mental problems. In order to protect these people from the virus, housing initiatives were eventually launched. Moroccan authorities have provided emergency shelters to 6,324 homeless people to protect them against the coronavirus pandemic. 2,060 homeless people were able to reunite with their families during the difficult times of the lockdown and other individuals have benefited from showers, clean clothes, comfort, and healthy meals. They were also provided several doctors to give health services.

“The initiative,” President and founder of the Jood Association explains, “also aims to preserve the dignity of the homeless and help them integrate into society”.

In an interview, she also states, “The idea of the association started when her mother mandated her to feed a poor person on the street. His picture, starving and shivering from the cold, remained stuck on her mind, and she says that four years ago, she provided almost 100 meals to the street displaced and that the number of volunteers in it began to extend gradually. But, providing food, cover, and medicine was not enough to save the displaced from the misery they are living in. They need more than that.”

The association saved about 1000 people and expects the number to increase. "This process allows to count the number of beneficiaries of the process, who number about thirty every night, and provides assistance to adults from them to obtain identification papers that give them hope to find work," explains a young volunteer at the association, who registered the homeless through a special electronic system and raised their fingerprints and recorded their names.

As more associations join this initiative, each one of them provides a service to this vulnerable category that we often forget about. The idea is to help ease the daily struggles of their lives by providing them with some kind of shelter and protecting them from the roaming virus that threatens their lives. This initiative is proof that Moroccans, or any society, can join hands to help each other and the most unfortunate of them to pass any crisis. We can solve any problem if people are willing to work together and show that we have compassion, mercy, and solidarity. After all, we are all humans.

Sources

Covid-19: 145 Areas To Receive Homeless People, Official. (2020, April 22). Maroc.Ma. http://www.maroc.ma/en/news/vcovid-19-145-areas-receive-homeless-people-official

Laaroussi, M. I. (2020, May 20). How Arab States Take on Coronavirus: Morocco as a Case Study. Al Jazeera Center for Studies. https://studies.aljazeera.net/en/reports/how-arab-states-take-coronavirus-morocco-case-study

Ministry of Solidarity: 6,324 Homeless People Taken Care of. (2020, May 7). Maroc.Ma. http://www.maroc.ma/en/news/ministry-solidarity-6324-homeless-people-taken-care

Morocco Launches Housing Initiatives to Protect Homeless From COVID-19. (2020, March 22). Morocco World News. https://www-moroccoworldnews-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/www.moroccoworldnews.com/2020/03/297140/morocco-launches-housing-initiatives-to-protect-homeless-from-covid-19/amp/?usqp=mq331AQFKAGwASA%3D&_js_v=0.1#aoh=15951927267761&csi=1&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&_tf=From%20%251%24s&share=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.moroccoworldnews.com%2F2020%2F03%2F297140%2Fmorocco-launches-housing-initiatives-to-protect-homeless-from-covid-19%2F