Morocco: An alliance for human rights launches a shriek about the suffering of coal workers in “Jarada”

Members of the Civil Alliance for Human Rights revealed the terribleincidents, which occurred in the area of Jarada”, following the ongoing protests after the death of two youths inside a passing coal well, based on serious testimonies of people of the region.

The “alliance” highlightedin its report that coal wells lack the most basic safety conditions. However,  workers are working with primitive and traditional means and equipment , which led them to be directly exposed to health and occupational hazards, especially with the possibility of the collapse of these wells on their heads, noting that these dangerous places take away annually between two martyrs to five martyrs , As well as the suffering of Silicosis.

The alliance pointed out that since the administration of Moroccan coals decision to close its headquarters in the city of “Jarada” in 1998, people are living in poverty and social exclusion. Stakeholders did not think for alternatives to those workers, who became overnight unemployed, prompting women and men to come out, searching for a livelihood in the wells of death with low income and laborious work that may take 10 hours.

The report called on the demands of the protesters of “Jarada movement and described it as fair and very simple, which is mainly to provide employment for young people in the region, the commitment to implement the social agreements concluded since 1998, and the compensation of Silicosis’ ill people for physical disability, according to the social agreement of on February 17, 1998. In addition, the National Social Security Fund (NSS) declared the wages of workers authorized under the mentioned agreement, stressing the need to send a ministerial delegation, especially as people lost confidence in the elected officials, local and regional authorities, because of their evasion from their promises thathave been almost for two decades.

It is noteworthy that protesters in “Jarada” threatened to enter into a new form of protest through collective suicide, by protesting inside coal wells if their demands were not met and their suffering were not stopped.