Other Moroccan cities engaged in similar actions to keep homeless people safe from the coronavirus.
Rabat – Two centers in the city of Safi, 157 kilometers from Marrakech, have welcomed over 78 homeless people to defend them from the rapid spread of COVID-19.
The local authorities of Safi launched the initiative with the Provincial Delegation for National Assistance and the Al Bir Wal Ihssan Association after Morocco declared a state of health emergency.
“The largest part of the rehoused homeless people are from Safi, meanwhile the rest of them are from suburban communes of the province,” the providential delegate of National Assistance, Abdelhakim Laamarti said in a press release.
The homeless individuals have benefited from showers, clean clothes, comfort, and healthy meals.
The initiative is sheltering beneficiaries in the headquarters of the Al Bir Wal Ihssan Association and a preschool building, the delegate continued, adding that a third center is available if necessary.
The governor of Safi presided over night shift campaigns in the city to invite homeless individuals to benefit from the initiative.
Beneficiaries who suffer from mental disorders will receive treatment at specialized centers, Laamarti concluded.
Safi’s humanitarian action is the latest of its kind and follows similar initiatives in several Moroccan cities since the country entered a state of health emergency on March 20.
The Reception and Orientation Center for Homeless People in Sale, a neighboring city of Rabat, has initiated special measures to protect homeless people from the spread of COVID-19.
On March 22, Minister of Solidarity Jamila El Moussali announced that shelters were opening their doors for homeless people in the cities of Tangier, Oujda, Casablanca, Rabat, Kenitra, Inezgane, and Agadir.
“This action comes within the framework of the precautionary measures of an urgent nature taken to confront the exceptional situation in the kingdom,” El Moussali explained.
