Morocco: Self-isolation, Social Distancing Are a Luxury That Poor Families Can't Afford

In this in Wednesday, March 25, 2020 photo, volunteers disinfect an overcrowded housing complex to prevent the spread of coronavirus in Sale, near Rabat, Morocco. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)
In this in Wednesday, March 25, 2020 photo, volunteers disinfect an overcrowded housing complex to prevent the spread of coronavirus in Sale, near Rabat, Morocco. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)
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Morocco: Self-isolation, Social Distancing Are a Luxury That Poor Families Can't Afford

In this in Wednesday, March 25, 2020 photo, volunteers disinfect an overcrowded housing complex to prevent the spread of coronavirus in Sale, near Rabat, Morocco. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)
In this in Wednesday, March 25, 2020 photo, volunteers disinfect an overcrowded housing complex to prevent the spread of coronavirus in Sale, near Rabat, Morocco. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)

More than 900 people live in crowded rooms without running water or an income to support them in a housing complex in the Moroccan city of Sale. The country entered total lockdown in mid-March, however, self-isolation and social distancing are a luxury that families in this complex cannot afford.

Some families have lived in their room for 40 years, steadily filling it with children and grandchildren, with some rooms housing up to 10 people. Almost all are marginalized, and since the outbreak of COVID-19, those who had jobs - such as working in gas stations or selling small items on the streets - have been left with no way to make a living, the Associated Press reported.

Like countries around the world, Morocco is facing the challenge of how to protect populations from the fast-spreading virus while not punishing the poor.

In early March, the Moroccan government began rolling out measures to stem the spread of the virus, culminating in the ongoing lockdown that has turned once bustling cities into ghost towns.

Borders, schools, shops, companies, cafes and mosques have closed. Movement between cities is restricted. Only one member of each household is permitted to leave in order to buy necessities, and those who work in essential jobs must have government-approved permission slips to show at checkpoints or risk facing up to three months in prison.

As the measures started to pinch vulnerable families, Morocco approved emergency support packages to people not registered in public or private sector jobs.

The fund supporting such measures was established by Moroccan King Mohamed VI, and saw mobilization by institutions, businesses and officials.

At the housing complex in Sale´s old medina, children hang around the communal courtyard and run through narrow alleyways. Families share one room where they wash clothes, and fill buckets of water at public fountains.

Volunteers have stepped in to help, visiting the residence to disinfect surfaces, trying to prevent an outbreak of the virus in this crowded corner of Sale.

Kaddour El Miny used to sell water to shoppers in the medina. A job that brought in very little before the COVID-19 lockdown has now stopped entirely.

Ilyas, 61, lives with eight family members. "My sons can´t find jobs."

"We don´t rely on savings or a salary. If we don´t go out to work one day, then we go to sleep hungry."

Teams of volunteers in hazmat suits from Mohamed El Gaid´s aid group Shabab el Mowatana have been visiting slums and densely populated buildings like this one to help clean.

Local authorities supplied a room near a mosque where volunteers gather, store equipment and get water.

"We had to take the initiative and try to complement the government effort," El Gaid said.

"Every effort is necessary."

"We´re all from Sale and want to make a difference," he added, AP reported.

As the volunteers walk up through the tiny stairs of the complex, they´re received with relief and gratitude. People pray out loud for the workers as they disinfect walls and floors.

Residents hope that this will be enough to save them from a contagion they can´t risk facing.



Amid War and Deep Hunger, Gaza Fishermen Struggle to Feed Families

Palestinian fishermen work, during the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, along the coast of Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, November 1, 2024. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem
Palestinian fishermen work, during the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, along the coast of Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, November 1, 2024. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem
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Amid War and Deep Hunger, Gaza Fishermen Struggle to Feed Families

Palestinian fishermen work, during the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, along the coast of Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, November 1, 2024. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem
Palestinian fishermen work, during the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, along the coast of Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, November 1, 2024. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem

After over a year of war in Gaza, Palestinian fishermen gather along the coastline, desperately casting their nets in hopes of catching enough for their families amid widespread hunger.

Since Israel began a military onslaught in Gaza after Hamas' October 2023 attack, Israeli restrictions in the waters off the enclave have made life almost impossible for fishermen, who no longer sail out to sea and instead must stay by the shore.

In Khan Younis, Ibrahim Ghurab, 71, and Waseem Al Masry, 24, fish for sardines from the shoreline in front of a encampment of tents and makeshift shelters for those displaced by the war.

"Life is difficult," Ghurab said. "One tries to secure food. There is no aid, we don't receive anything anymore. In the beginning there was some (humanitarian) aid, very little, but now there is no more."

According to Reuters, fishermen like Ghurab and Al Masry struggle daily to bring in even a modest catch to feed their families. There is rarely any fish left over from a daily haul to be sold to others.

Fishing was an important part of daily life in Gaza before the war, helping people eke out a living by selling their daily hauls in the market and feed the population.

But scant aid is reaching Gaza amid Israeli restrictions and frequent fighting, and many people have no income. The price of simple goods are largely out of reach for most.

"We have to come here and risk our lives," Al Masry said, describing shootings by the Israeli military from the sea that he accused of targeting fisherman on the beach in Khan Younis.

Ghurab similarly said that Israeli military boats had fired upon fisherman at Khan Younis.