Chômage : émeute à خريبكة Khouribga et جنيبة Boujniba – 6 juillet 2011

New riots in Moroccan phosphate region over jobs

af.reuters.com

Thu Jul 7, 2011

* Third day of riots in Morocco’s phosphate region

* Protesters want jobs at phosphate monopoly

* OCP says conducting biggest ever recruitment campaign

By Souhail Karam

RABAT, July 7 (Reuters) – Moroccan security forces used truncheons, tear gas and water canons on protesters demanding jobs, local residents said on Thursday, in a bid to tame a third day of riots in the country’s phosphate-mining central area.

Government officials could not immediately be reached for comment, while a spokesman for the state-run phosphate monopoly, OCP, said there were protests, but stopped short of calling them riots.

Riots broke out in March in the same Khouribga province, home to the country’s biggest phosphate mines. Morocco is the world’s top phosphate reserves holder and a key supplier of fertilisers and phosphoric acid.

Hajjaj Assal, who heads the local section of the country’s main human rights group, AMDH, said 30 protesters had been arrested since Tuesday and some of them were put on trial on Thursday.

« Riots are still ongoing in the Lebyout district of Khouribga and in the neighbouring towns of Hattan and Boujniba, » he told Reuters.

« The riots started after OCP issued a list of few hundreds of beneficiaries of jobs which disappointed youths from the region as there had been more than 30,000 applicants, » Assal said.

Residents from Khouribga confirmed the information.

« Several were wounded among protesters and the anti-riot forces. Protesters used stones while anti-riot police used water canons and tear gas, » said a resident in Hattan who asked not to be named.

Assal also said an unspecified number of protesters and members of the police force were wounded during the riots.

The protesters ransacked a commissary belonging to OCP in Khouribga, the local governors’ offices and town halls in the mining towns of Hattan and Boujniba, Assal added. Read more…

Plus d’infos

Informations

Khouribga (arabe : خريبكة) est une ville du Maroc située à 120 km au sud-est de Casablanca. D’une superficie de 4 250 km², Khouribga est une ville minière considérée comme la plus importante zone de production de phosphates au monde^{[réf. nécessaire]}. L’Office Chérifien des Phosphates (OCP), la première entreprise publique du Maroc, exploite la zone minière et gère en partie les infrastructures sportives et sociales de la ville

Boujniba (en arabe : بو جنيبة) est une ville du Maroc. Elle est située dans la région de Chaouia-Ouardigha. Elle est connue pour ses anciens gisement de phosphate.