A group of African irregular immigrants staged a protest in the Derb Mila area of the Al-Fedaa prefecture in Casablanca on Friday evening, accusing the local authorities of racism. The protesters gathered in a security presence and chanted slogans against discrimination while expressing their desire to live peacefully in the area.
The protest was organized to demand information about the fate of some of their friends who had been arrested. The group, estimated to be around 70 people, marched from Darb Mila to Al-Fida Street carrying banners.
Local security services and authorities were mobilized to prevent the protest from escalating into chaos. This demonstration occurred at a time when a survey conducted by the Moroccan League for the Defense of Human Rights and the Moroccan Center for Citizenship revealed that a large percentage of young people under the age of 30 reject Morocco as a receiving country for immigrants from sub-Saharan Africa and support promoting borders to prevent the entry of other immigrants into the Kingdom.
The survey also indicated that a majority of respondents believe that immigrants do not contribute to the national economy and that migration from sub-Saharan Africa to Morocco will become a real problem. Additionally, a significant percentage of the under-30 age group believes that immigrants contribute to unemployment.