Three people have been killed at antigovernment protests in Morocco, the country’s prime minister said on Thursday, a sixth day of youth-led demonstrations driven by growing anger over heavy spending on preparing for the 2030 soccer World Cup rather than public services.
The protests began last weekend after a loosely organized group known as Gen Z 212 used social media to call for better schools and hospitals and for broader freedoms in the North African country. Demonstrators initially took to the streets in major cities including Rabat, the capital, and Casablanca, during which they contrasted the millions that the government was spending to host the sporting event with the dire state of public services.
The police said in a statement that they had been forced to act in self-defense after protesters tried to storm a police building and seize weapons, and that two people were killed in that incident. Authorities did not say how the third person died.
Gen Z 212 said on social media that the killings amounted to “a serious human rights violation.”
Prime Minister Aziz Akhannouch of Morocco said in a televised address to his cabinet on Thursday that his government was ready for a “dialogue and discussion within institutions and public spaces.” But the demonstrators demanded that he step down.
The protests are the latest in a string of youth-led demonstrations that have taken place across the world in recent weeks. The protests do not appear to be connected, but they reflect growing anger among younger populations over government corruption and limited economic opportunities. The movements have taken off on social media platforms, tapping into shared anxieties and spurring people to take to the streets.
In Madagascar this week, youth-driven protests over power cuts and water shortages forced the president to dissolve his government. Days earlier, thousands of Filipinos filled the streets of Manila to protest their government, which they have accused of misappropriating billions of dollars designated for flood relief projects.
Last month, student protesters in Nepal who called themselves Gen Z started a movement against government graft and a ban on social media platforms. And in August, mass demonstrations erupted in Indonesia over rising unemployment and inflation.
Young Moroccans face similarly challenging economic pressures, with the unemployment rate for people under age 25 at 35.8 percent, according to the national statistics agency.
The government’s decision to spend heavily to prepare for the World Cup, which Morocco will co-host with Portugal and Spain, has fueled the protesters’ anger. Demonstrators have chanted slogans criticizing the government’s spending on the soccer World Cup, and fan clubs for some of the country’s professional teams said they would not attend matches in the newly built or renovated stadiums.
The anti-World Cup protests bear some similarities to nationwide protests in Brazil when it embarked on massive stadium projects ahead of hosting the tournament in 2014 at a time of rising living costs and poor standards of health care and education.
To secure the rights to host the event, Morocco and its two European partners agreed to host games in venues that would meet exacting FIFA standards, requiring the building or refurbishment of venues at substantial expense.
“We don’t want the World Cup. We don’t want stadiums,” said Siman, an unemployed graduate who asked that The New York Times not use her surname for fear of reprisal. She said had been arrested this week and had rejoined the protests as soon as she was released.
The police have arrested more than 400 people, Rachid El Khalfi, a spokesman for Morocco’s interior ministry, told the country’s state news agency. He accused protesters of ransacking government buildings, banks, and other businesses and setting fire to dozens of security vehicles.
But the demonstrators accused the police of responding violently to peaceful protests, saying that police tactics had caused tensions to escalate. Khadija Riyadi, a prominent Moroccan human rights lawyer, said that people were being arrested merely for granting interviews to the media. “This kind of targeting is very new,” she said.
Despite being youth-led, the protests in Morocco have also attracted support from more established movements, including the Moroccan Association for Human Rights. The group was active during the 2011 protests that formed part of the Arab Spring. The government introduced constitutional reforms following those demonstrations, but responded to subsequent protests with harsh crackdowns.
The generation who came of age after 2011 have only known repression, Soumaya Regragui, a senior official of the association, said. “The new generation, following what is happening in the world, has more courage and they have nothing to lose,” she said, referring to the other youth-led protests that have erupted in recent weeks.
The Gen Z 212 group — +212 is the telephone country code for Morocco — vowed to continue protesting. A member of the group posted a poll on social media to ask how they should respond to the killings: demonstrate in quieter neighborhoods to avoid clashes with security forces, protest peacefully from balconies and rooftops, or stay home and declare Thursday a day of mourning? Many decided to return to the streets.
Tariq Panja contributed reporting.
Lynsey Chutel is a Times reporter based in London who covers breaking news in Africa, the Middle East and Europe.
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