Poverty is forcing Moroccan children to the streets, in silence
Morocco is known as a source of argan oil, and a tourist destination through decades People may think that poverty does not exist in Morocco. Although, currently the high population of children are living in extreme poverty and it is the main reason that children become homeless and being the victim of drugs and sexual abuse.
Poverty has no border to any place; In every country, many people are living in poverty and in one way or another, poverty affects a part of their normal life and children’s healthy life, and has become the cause another issue: poverty is the reason that children often become homeless in Casablanca, Rabat, Western Sahara and Fes and continue living on the streets. Poverty and the lack of accessibility to educational sources, make the children targets for various types violence, drugs, and sexual abuse, resulting in the children living on the streets. Beyond that, poverty affects children by hindering their basic human rights, such as educational opportunities, standard of living, medical care, healthy food, and clothing.
Children are the primary victims of poverty, and they are forced to stop going to school and instead, they have to work for their families. For instances 8% of children between ages five and fourteen have been affected by poverty, and now these kids start doing street jobs, such as shoe polishing and selling tissues.
Although 15% of the population is living in poverty, this number is decreasing because of Moroccan government’s action. In 2002, school become free for kids ages six to fifteen, so 88% of Moroccan children can benefit from education. But again these kids have to work for the survival of themselves and their family.
I saw a ten-year-old tissue seller boy a few days ago sitting on the street, practicing his writing. I interviewed him on the topic of (insert topic). He said, “I go to a regular school that is free nearby my house, indeed, I go to school, I cannot read a text. Because I have to work during the day to find money in order to save myself and my family from poverty, but meanwhile I was trying to study while I am selling the tissue that is why most of the time I am sitting in the corner of the street to review my lessons and meanwhile to sell the fabric too”.
Although the economy of Morocco is getting better, and the government works to help children have rights and provide opportunities for them, a high population of children still suffer from poverty. this is the effect of them not continuing their education. The current statistics on child poverty show that more than 30,000 children are homeless in Morocco, and the researchers realized that poverty, and the lack of access to standardized living are not the only reasons for youth homelessness. Apparently the majority of homeless children have been targeted for sexual abuse and this on another reason that youth become homeless. Recently, a study by the name of “The Phenomenon of Street Children in Morocco” was conducted by Shakib Jason, a sociologist. The study shows that one-thousand children are homeless in Casablanca alone.
There are many examples of the children that had reported on social media. One of those is Aisha, a 14 years old teenager who was selling tissues in the main street of Casablanca. She had been raped and subjected to sexual abuse, so she said she became homeless after a teenage neighbor of hers had raped her. She stated, “I preferred to run away than to face the situation and tell the fact to my father,” she had reported to Al Arabiya News. “My mom is dead, and my stepmother is very cruel, so there is no one to protect me”.
Aisha was one of those teenagers that suffered from sexual abuse, but on the other hand, Abdullah, a 12-year-old shoe polisher, also reported to Al Arabiya News. He said that living on the streets is better than bearing witness to the daily squabbles between his mom and dad. “I couldn’t take it anymore, especially that their fights are always concluded with beating me up and even kicking me out, so I ran away.”
Most of the people do not know the story behind the poverty and child homelessness and do not know how hard this situation is for children to work and live on the street without their family. Poverty has affected their life, and is why these children have a poor standard of living, bad health, a lack of education and being target of domestic violence, sexual abuse and drugs. However besides the government, many organizations are working to support the children’s rights and provide them with opportunities to help them get out of their situation, but again these children need help and global support in order to escape homelessness.