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Rabat – Moroccan men with yellow envelopes flocked in their hundreds to a “youth center” in Oulad Tayma, a city in the Taroudant province on Wednesday, September 11. The march was not a protest but a bid for job contracts in France.
Morocco’s National Agency for Employment and Skills (ANAPEC) opened the opportunity to youth aged 25 and 45. If successful, the candidates will get a work contract in France for citrus fruit picking.
Videos and photos showing crowds of men of different ages in front of the youth center have gone viral. Men from different places in the Souss-Massa region flocked to the region, hoping for a chance.
The requirements stipulate that the candidates should have experience in farming and been in good health to secure a contract. Under the contract, successful candidates will receive a monthly salary of € 1,525 for 39 hours per week.
Candidates will have to pay for their own transport to France.
“The situation is weak in Morocco, I came to see if I will get a chance to travel to work,” one of the candidates told the press.
“Look at all these youth, all came here looking for an opportunity. France, France, open the borders for us,” he shouted.
Another video showed candidates jumping over the wall to enter the youth center in order to submit their application.
Mohamed Dabach, a journalist from the region wrote: “Crowds of young from Oulad Tayma wishing to emigrate France exposed the reality of marginalization and misery.”
Unemployment is on the rise in Morocco, especially in rural areas. Morocco’s High Commission for Planning (HCP) said in February that 1,168 people were unemployed in 2018.
Social disparities in Morocco have raised concerns, urging King Mohammed VI to call for a new development model to reduce inequality.
In a speech for Revolution Day in August, the monarch called on the youth to resort to self-employment, agriculture, and vocational training.
The King insisted that a focus on a vocational training approach could serve as a concrete solution to reduce unemployment among Morocco’s youth, not only in rural areas but also in urban areas.
