Conditions in centers housing refugees after the earthquake in the Moroccan High Atlas almost two months ago were worsened by a storm, in addition to the lack of electricity and assistance.
“There is no electricity, there are no bathrooms, there are no tents to protect themselves from the rain. These days when it was raining, water entered the tents and the authorities were not there,” said Ahmed, a refugee in the city of Amizmiz, on Thursday. located in the south of Marrakech.
“The only thing we ask of you is that you come and see what we need,” he added.
Thousands of refugees live in Amizmiz, in tents provided by the Moroccan Government that were damaged by the sandstorm and heavy rain that hit Morocco on Sunday, with wind gusts of up to 110 kilometers per hour.
This storm could be a sign of what could happen in winter, when temperatures fall below zero degrees and snow isolates the mountain villages beyond Amizmiz, where hundreds of refugees are located.
Next to some Amizmiz stores, Ahmed, about 60 years old, complains that the direct aid of 2,500 dirhams (about 230 euros) per month per family approved by the Moroccan government has not reached many of those affected.
This is the first wave of aid announced by Morocco, after the earthquake that caused around 3,000 deaths and 5,500 injuries. A second aid should be distributed at the beginning of November, aimed at rebuilding the approximately 56,000 affected homes.
“Here people suffer the greatest difficulties. There are elderly people and sick children. There are people with chronic diseases. There are diabetics who do not have syringes to inject insulin, which deteriorates over time,” Ahmed said.
“We want the Government to help this neglected region,” he added.
Faced with this situation, the refugees protested on Tuesday in the streets of Amizmiz and intend to do so again.
The refugees are grouped in the Amizmiz Earthquake Victims Coordination Committee, which calls for the widespread installation of electricity, toilets, water points and garbage containers in the camps, the replacement of tents used as schools with mobile classrooms , the installation of a field hospital and More security to prevent theft.
“If the rain continues, if we do not intervene in the damaged houses and replace the tents that are not suitable for the rain, wind and snow, there will be a catastrophe,” said a local authority in the province of Marrakech.
Fátima, another refugee from Amizmiz, also complains about the difficulties and conditions they experience.
“We want to return to our homes. The cold is coming, so is the rain and there are still problems with theft. We have to be alert all day. There is no place to work and if we leave our shops, when we return we will not find anything,” he said Fatima.
Mounir, another neighbor, says that the aid did not reach “even 50%” of the families and asks that the affected houses be demolished or protected so that they do not fall on people.
Rachid Belaardi, councilor of Amizmiz, explained that the protesters are asking for a review of the aid distribution system, since many did not receive them because they were assigned per household, without taking into account that in some houses more than one family lives and that not all of them have the same number of members.
Source: TSF
