Moroccan medical faculties restrict campus activities as student protests continue

Some of Morocco’s Medical and Pharmacy faculties have issued statements underscoring “the requirement to obtain prior permission for any activity” conducted within their respective campuses, amidst the students’ national mobilization against training reform.

These statements have been perceived by medical students as “a further measure to impede their right to protest.”

“The Dean’s Office announces to all students that organizing any activity, regardless of its form, within the institution outside the teaching, supervision, and research tasks assigned to it according to the current legislative and organizational texts, is conditional on obtaining a prior written permit,” reads the statement.

It further highlighted that “the Dean’s Office also  emphasizes that any violation of the aforementioned condition will subject the violator to legal accountability.”

These pronouncements have been issued thus far by the medical faculties of Casablanca , Tangier, and Agadir.

Medical students were incensed by this most recent action, which generated a barrage of criticism. These statements, in their opinion, are merely another attempt to silence the protests that have paralyzed Moroccan medical facilities for nearly three months.

“Since the beginning of this open strike, medical students have endured various forms of threats and intimidation,” said an Instagram account covering the protests, condemning “the humiliation students faced by the head of faculty in Errachidia”, and authorities’ attempt to block buses in Agadir and Oujda from reaching the planned peaceful sit-in in front of the parliament in Rabat.

Other medical students vowed, in the comment section, to press on their protests until the two ministries address their list of demands.

For context, medical students from Laayoune, Agadir, and Oujda, had planned to join their fellow students on Thursday 29 in Rabat for the sit-in, but authorities abruptly prevented their buses from leaving for the capital, according to sources close to Hespress EN as well as circulating online videos depicting scenes of students wandering the streets at midnight.

Marouane, a medical student, previously told Hespress EN that conflicting explanations were provided by the authorities, with some claiming there was an order preventing their departure, while others denied any such directive.