MOROCCO: Man kidnaps and rapes a 110-year-old woman

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates / Emirates247.com / December 15, 2011

Offbeat / Crazy World
Old lady was locked by the accused for nearly 5 hours; 

Crime jolts people in town

A young Moroccan man kidnapped a 110-year-woman, locked her up for nearly five hours at his house and raped her before he was captured by police.

Hamid Al Ghoul, 26, was arrested just after raping the woman at his house in the central town of Sattat in the North African country.

“The ugly and heinous crime has jolted the whole area… Al Ghoul is now in police custody waiting for justice after savagely raping that old woman,” the Moroccan Arabic language daily Al Chaab said. 

Copyright © 2011. Dubai Media Incorporated
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MOROCCO: Marooned at Lanzarote airport, the 'Gandhi of the Western Sahara'

LONDON, England / The Independent / News / World / Africa / December 2, 2009

Disowned by Morocco, unwanted in Spain: Anita Brooks reports on the plight of a Nobel-nominated activist

A Spanish court has fined Haidar for disturbing the peace. Reuters

Expelled from her homeland and weak from a hunger strike, the last thing award-winning Sahrawi independence activist Aminatou Haidar needs right now is a €180 fine. But that's what a Spanish court has ordered her to pay for disturbing the peace at the Lanzarote airport in the Canary Islands, where the woman known as the Gandhi of the Western Sahara has camped since 16 November, refusing to eat anything but sugar water in protest at what she sees as her forced exile by Morocco.

The court fine came after Aena, the company that runs the airport, filed a complaint in a local Arrecife court, which on Monday issued a "minimal" €180 (£160) fine on the weakening activist.

It is the latest twist to the surreal tale of how this Nobel Prize nominee wound up on a check-in terminal floor surrounded by sun-seeking tourists, her passport rescinded by Moroccan authorities. Her Kafkaesque plight – which began when Ms Haidar refused to fill in the citizenship line of a customs form – has spurred an outpouring of support by Spanish artists and intellectuals such as film director Pedro Almodovar. They staged a concert outside Madrid at the weekend to pressure the Spanish government into doing more to help Ms Haidar return home.

"If I held a government post, I would be with her today," Almodovar told the crowd. "I would tell her that to preserve her dignity she doesn't have to die."

Portuguese Nobel laureate Jose Saramago was expected to visit her at the airport yesterday. A representative from the Robert F Kennedy Centre for Justice and Human Rights in Washington, Marselha Goncalves Margerin, is also by her side. The RFK Centre awarded her its 2008 prize, for denouncing human rights abuses by the Moroccan government. "I think Morocco miscalculated about the amount of support she has all over the world," Ms Goncalves Margerin told The Independent as Ms Haidar began her 16th day of hunger strike. Ms Haidar's health continues to deteriorate – she can only move in a stretcher or wheelchair – as the Spanish foreign ministry searches for a solution. She fainted during negotiations at the weekend. But so far she has rejected offers of Spanish nationality, as well as political asylum in Spain. They are unacceptable, according to her lawyer, Ines Miranda, because they would make her "a foreigner in her own land". Spain's Foreign Minister, Miguel Angel Moratinos, announced on Monday that she seemed happy with a new plan: the return of her original passport, which he is negotiating with Morocco. The 42-year-old activist has devoted her life to the peaceful quest for independence of her mineral-rich desert homeland, a former Spanish colony now controlled by Morocco. She has been tortured and imprisoned in secret Moroccan jails. It took her 15 years for the authorities to grant her a passport. Last month, she used that passport to travel to the United States, where she received an award from the Train Foundation in New York for her struggles. Then on 14 November she tried to return home to her husband and two teenage daughters in the Western Sahara's main town, Laayoune. But before she reached the customs desk at Laayoune airport, a Moroccan officer questioned her about why she had left the citizenship line blank on her immigration entry form. Why had she written Western Sahara instead of Morocco in the address line? Her answer did not please authorities, and her passport was confiscated. She was told to sign a form renouncing her citizenship and was forced onto a plane. To where, she did not know. Once in Lanzarote, she asked the Spanish authorities to be allowed to return to the Western Sahara. But they would not let her board a plane without a passport. According to Ms Goncalves Margerin, Ms Haidar believes Morocco planned her expulsion long before she left for the US, as part of a crackdown against Sahrawis who support the Polisario Front. Ms Haidar also believes that Spain knew of the Moroccan plan in advance and agreed to offer the activist Spanish nationality. She already possesses a Spanish residency card. "When she was in the US, she said: 'I expected two things to happen; either they will arrest me or they will take away my travel documents.' But she never thought they would expel her," Ms Goncalves Margerin said. "What is heartbreaking is that Spain agreed to accept her." [rc]

©independent.co.uk
Also read: The Barcelona Reporter article Hunger-striking Nobel Prize nominee Amainatou Haidar in “critical condition”

MOROCCO: The elderly in Morocco, from caring families to isolation

. CASABLANCA, Morocco / Magharebia.com / Features / June 12, 2009 Many of Morocco's elderly find themselves alone without help, as just 16% receive pensions. The remainder must rely on the state or families to avoid being homeless. Text and photos by Siham Ali Moroccan Ba Mohamed is one of the many elderly Moroccans neglected by society and family. The number of elderly people is growing all the time in Morocco. By 2030, senior citizens will make up 15% of the Moroccan population, rising from 2.5 million to 8 million. Government officials and social activists say work to protect this marginalised sector of society must intensify before more ageing citizens end up on the streets. Ba Mohamed once lived with a loving family. The 70-something man now wanders the streets of Rabat every day, suffering the pain of solitude and marginalisation. He no longer receives any news from his two children, who emigrated to France 25 years ago. After the death of his wife, Ba continued performing seasonal work, until health problems prevented him from being able to support himself. Without financial resources, he found himself with no fixed abode, moving from pillar to post, and living off the goodwill of passers-by. His brothers and nephews thought it best to sever their links with him. Demographic changes have had a perceptible impact on social solidarity in Morocco, sociologist Naïma Bichri explains, leaving many people in their twilight years, like Ba Mohamed, to navigate the challenges of everyday life on their own. "We're seeing problems which never existed in the past. Indeed, it was rare for an elderly person to be cast aside. Families took care of their own and respected those older than themselves," she tells Magharebia. "This trend is dying out more and more." Nevertheless, she says it is important not to paint too bleak a picture, because there are still many families who want to look after their elderly relatives. Hnia, in her eighties, has been living with her children since her husband died 32 years ago. She organises her own schedule of visits to stay with her eight children, who live in different towns and cities. "When I'm bored staying with one of them, I ring one of the others to come and collect me there and then. If I'm taken ill, my sons pay for my treatment. I feel spoiled, even if my daughters-in-law irritate me," she says with a broad grin. It may be difficult for young people to continue to support their elders, even if they want to, Bichri points out, given the unemployment rate affecting Morocco and the erosion of citizens' spending power. She thinks the government and civil society should work together to find solutions, both in terms of families and resources. According to figures from the High Commission for Planning, only 16% of elderly Moroccans receive a pension. The remainder must rely on family or the state for care. One solution may be for families to work together as part of a mutual support network; Samira Tamiri of the Together for a Better Future Association feels that a family network could go far in addressing problems facing senior citizens. "Thanks to advice, mutual services and exchanges across all regions of Morocco, our senior citizens can live a better life. Those who don't have a loving family around them can find plenty of other people prepared to listen," she tells Magharebia. Indeed, government officials have begun focusing on strengthening the family unit as the basis for a new national strategy for the elderly. With 84% of elderly Moroccans forced to rely on the state or family for care, many fall through the cracks. "Changes in our society mean that there needs to be provision for the elderly, particularly those in a vulnerable situation," Social Development, Family and Solidarity Minister Nouzha Skalli said at a conference in Rabat last month. Recommendations made by a think-tank studying the issue centred on the need to set up a consultative committee and regional networks to alleviate the suffering of those who live in misery on the margins of society. Among the suggestions made at the forum: creation of a committee on ageing representing all the regions of the country. There was also a proposal to set up a UNESCO chair, comprising academics, researchers, mediators and people running centres for the elderly, whose job it would be to evaluate public policy and provide information on the relevant sectors, such as health, pensions and the environment.‎ Any comprehensive plan must also deal with the inadequate number of centres for the elderly. There is no official figure on the total number of available spaces, but there is a recognised shortfall. One successful centre for the elderly was set up by the Mohammed V Foundation for Solidarity. Opened in 2008, the facility provides food and health care to ageing Moroccans who have no resources or family support. Alongside caring for pensioners, the centre helps homeless elderly citizens through its own paramedic service.[rc] This content was commissioned for Magharebia.com.

MOROCCO: An example for the entire region in the Moroccan town of Asilah

BEIRUT, Lebanon (The Daily Star), August 22, 2008: Editorial Mohammad Benaissa has provided an inspiring example for the entire region of the huge impact that one individual can potentially have on his or her home community. Benaissa is known around the world for his high-profile posts in the Moroccan government, including ambassador to the United States and foreign affairs minister. But in his hometown of Asilah he is best known as the man who has almost singlehandedly brought about a complete economic, social and cultural transformation. Asilah, whose history dates back over 3,600 years, when it was used by the Phoenicians as a trading post, was in a terrible state in 1977. The small Atlantic coast village of 11,000 people was in complete disrepair, with its walls collapsing, garbage and sewage piling up on the streets, and residents living in poverty with no immediate hope of a better economic future. Benaissa decided to do something about the state of his home community. The town had no oil or gas reserves, but it had one valuable resource that Benaissa sought to mobilize: creativity. In 1978, Benaissa, together with another local resident, Mohammed Melehi, used that resource to launch an international arts festival. The concept of the festival was that it would create a forum for common ground where Arab and Muslim intellectuals, including scholars, artists, writers, poets, could meet with their international counterparts for an open exchange of ideas. Benaissa sought to maximize the economic benefits of the tourism boost by continuing to reinvest funds produced by the festival into the town's rehabilitation. But Benaissa's initiative has seen Asilah go from from sleepy, dilapidated town to a thriving center of tourism and investment that has brought multiple benefits to the entire community. By 1989 the festival was attracting 150,000 people from across the Arab world Europe, Asia, the United States, Latin America, bringing with them a demand for local goods and services. In just a decade's time the village's public spaces and infrastructure had vastly improved and the average family income had nearly quadrupled. And the town that was not even a pit stop on the international tourism map has become a center of dialogue and a gathering point for intellectuals around the world. What a difference one man, and a bit of dedication, can make. Copyright © 2008, The Daily Star. Seniors World Chronicle adds: ____________________________________________________________________________ Earlier this year, in Abu Dhabi, 71-year old Mohamed Benaissa was named Cultural Personality of the Year in the 2008 Sheikh Zayed Book Award, walking away with a prize of one million UAE dirham. (Photo: MiddleEastOnline) Benaissa was recognised for his unique contribution to Arabic culture and the pioneering role he played in founding the Asilah Festival for arts, culture and thought at an award ceremony attended by Deputy Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. The Sheikh Zayed Book Award, an independent award conferred by the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage (ADACH), recognises significant contributions to Arabic culture in nine diverse categories and is designed to help foster scholarship and creative development in Arabic culture.

MOROCCO: Ageing population, pension funds get renewed attention

Morocco's pension funds are at risk of insolvency. Minister of Economy and Finance Salaheddine Mezouar said the government is considering a general reform including the introduction of both compulsory and optional schemes.
[Getty Images]


Facing demographic change in Morocco, the long-term solvency of pension funds is at risk. The ratio of people working to those in retirement is falling. Workers do not want to increase their contributions or the age or retirement, and they hope the government will identify an equitable solution.
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RABAT, Morocco (Magharebia), March 30, 2008:

The debate over pensions in Morocco is taking centre stage once again. With the main pension funds posting financial deficits and their solvency being called into question, officials and technocrats are accelerating efforts to introduce far-reaching reforms in order to avoid a collapse.

Moroccan pension funds are starting to feel the strain of demographic pressures, said Moroccan Interprofessional Pension Fund (CIMR) managing director Khalid Cheddadi. As the population ages and as public services employ fewer workers than in the past, he noted, the number of those paying contributions will continue to decrease year after year. If nothing is done, pension fund finances risk running seriously into the red.

Morocco's ageing population is not the pension funds' only problem. Because of a growing high number of self-employed professionals, agricultural workers and "informal" workers who do not benefit from labour legislation and collective bargaining agreements, Morocco currently relies upon only 30% of the working-age population to pay into the country's pension system.

As it stands now, the Moroccan pension fund (CMR) is not expected to survive beyond 2019. The national social security fund (CNSS) can only honour its commitments up to 2016.

According to Minister of Economy and Finance Salaheddine Mezouar, Morocco is considering a general reform, not only to consolidate the funds' long-term balances but also to lay the foundation for a harmonious and coherent system. "Compulsory schemes based on collective solidarity can live alongside complementary optional products which offer a range of choices for individual initiatives," he told Magharebia.

Calls for action by concerned trade unionists have prompted the state to consider several scenarios to rescue the pension funds. These include creating a single national fund for everyone, standardising methods of calculation in private and public retirement funds, raising the retirement age to 65 or using a lifetime work history model (35 or 40 years of work before retirement, regardless of age). So far, nothing has been decided.

Workers hope the government will find an equitable solution without having to raise their contributions or the retirement age.

Public sector worker Moha Bakkali told Magharebia: "I can’t imagine myself retiring at 65 when life expectancy is 70 years. It wouldn’t be fair."

"The State must face its responsibilities,” he said.

Morocco's pension system currently includes a number of funds. There is a fund for public workers in civil and military fields (Moroccan pension fund, or CMR); a fund for private sector workers (CNSS) managed by the CIMR (Moroccan interprofessional pension fund); and an organisation for those on State contracts (RCAR). Added to this are the various internal funds owned by certain public enterprises such as ODEP, ONCF, OCP and others.

There is no co-ordination between these different schemes.

By Sarah Touahri
Source: Magharebia.com