Committee for the Abolition of Illegitimate Debt

Despite more than two weeks since the Safi disaster, the Moroccan regime continues to attempt to divert attention away from the victims—those affected by its policies of exclusion and marginalisation—by promoting the opium of football, particularly through the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations. It is crucial to revisit these tragic events in order to address a vital question: Who is responsible for the deaths of the impoverished residents of Safi during the recent floods? The significance of this question lies first and foremost in the deep respect we owe to the victims of this tragedy, the sons and daughters of our people, whose official death toll has reached 40, following the discovery of another victim in the port of Safi on Saturday, December 20, 2025. Additionally, it is imperative that we express genuine concern regarding how to prevent such tragedies from recurring in the future—tragedies that predominantly impact our communities (such as the collapse of two buildings in Fez on December 10, 2025, which resulted in 22 deaths and many injuries, and the Tangier factory disaster in 2021, which claimed the lives of 24 women textile workers, among others).

How did rain, in just a few hours, become a deadly weapon in the impoverished neighbourhoods of Safi?

What transpired was not a natural disaster; rather, it was the consequence of a system based on the exploitation of the population’s resources, the degradation of the environment, and the marginalisation of impoverished neighbourhoods and their residents. Those who perished in the Safi floods did not die as a result of the rain; they were not victims of “fate,” nor were they casualties of an unfortunate natural accident.

Those who died in Safi on December 14^th : were killed !

To understand the true causes and identify those responsible for this disaster, I will use the cause tree [1] methodology, a method commonly employed in workplace accidents. The result is as follows:

Tree Reasons death (Killed) 40 citizens In floods Asfi December 14, 2025

The above cause-and-effect analysis reveals that the tragic deaths of 40 citizens in Safi resulted from a confluence of direct and environmental factors, compounded by profound flaws in public policies. The rapid rise in water levels was not an isolated natural occurrence but rather a consequence of inadequate infrastructure, a lack of prevention and investment, the exacerbation of climate change effects, and the absence of early warning and rapid intervention systems. These flaws stem from political and economic choices based on austerity, dependency, a lack of spatial justice, and the monopolisation of decision-making.

The cause-and-effect analysis indicates that the events in Safi constituted a structural crime, stemming from a disastrous convergence of three longstanding factors in Morocco. This analysis significantly elucidates the contradictions our country has been facing for some time—contradictions that the youth of GENZ212 have wittily encapsulated in the phrase “Morocco vs. Al Maghreb”:

1. The grinding mill of despotism and the ruling classes’ monopoly on political, economic, social, and cultural decision-making;
2. The grinding mills of economic liberalism, privatisation, export-oriented policies, and forms of neocolonialism;
3. The grinding mill of climate change and its effects on Morocco, particularly the so-called extreme phenomena of drought and floods.

1. The grinding mill of despotism: monopolising decision-making and guaranteeing impunity
Political tyranny remains the most lethal mill, upon which the second mill rests—to impose neoliberal economic plans that deepen our food, energy, and cultural dependence and legitimise all forms of neocolonialism by opening our markets, selling off our public institutions, and privatising our strategic sectors (electricity, water, health, education, etc.).

Furthermore, tyranny, characterised by its evident neglect and marginalisation, as illustrated by the case of Safi, ensures a culture of impunity, effectively eliminating any prospects for accountability:

• Those responsible for the neglect are not held accountable.
• Local authorities are not questioned.
• The development model imposed on the city remains unexamined, and both private and public companies that deplete resources, pollute, and devastate essential ecosystems face no repercussions. This is evident in the actions of the Office Chérifien des Phosphates since the 1960s, various canning companies from the 1970s, Lafarge since the 1990s, and more recently, the thermal power plant along with the new port of Safi, which supplies it with coal.

The machinery of authoritarianism and the prevailing security approach dominate all communication in our country. This means that the Ministry of the Interior is responsible for receiving weather warnings from the meteorological department, even though it would be straightforward to send direct text messages to residents in affected areas with immediate updates urging them to evacuate in the event of an approaching storm. Why does the government use text messages to encourage voter participation but neglect this medium for crucial issues? Unfortunately, the security approach largely governs the management of public affairs in Morocco, encompassing urban planning, communications, and the organisation of public events. The government perceives the population, especially young people, as a threat that necessitates control and restraint.

The residents of Safi have endured significant hardship. On numerous occasions, the direct repression by the authorities has had severe consequences, most notably the death of Kamal Ammari, a night watchman at the port and a participant in the peaceful protests of the February 20 Movement. He suffered a brain haemorrhage on May 29, 2011, as a result of a brutal police intervention.

The authorities showed no reluctance in suppressing the peaceful demonstrations held by residents on Friday, December 19, 2025, who were demanding justice following the floods that resulted in significant loss of life and property. These protests, which faced suppression from the authorities, called for accountability for those responsible for the disaster.

2. The Grinding Mill of Neoliberal Economics: Profits for the Minority Before the Lives of the Poor
In addition to the direct oppression experienced by the residents of Safi under the mechanisms of despotism, they have endured structural injustices for decades through:

Chronic Pollution: The direct discharge of industrial waste into the sea, originating from both canning factories and the chemical complex, along with the intermittent emissions of harmful gases from the chemical complex, has resulted in significant air pollution and an increase in respiratory diseases and cancers.

Dilapidated Infrastructure: The deterioration of the old sewage systems, coupled with the neglect of cleaning waterways, such as the Wadi al-Sha’ba stream, highlights the lack of investment in the city’s development and the protection of its residents, particularly in the impoverished neighbourhoods.

If the state had allocated as much investment to infrastructure as it has to profit Profit The positive gain yielded from a company’s activity. Net profit is profit after tax. Distributable profit is the part of the net profit which can be distributed to the shareholders. -driven projects, the rainwater would not have transformed into a graveyard.

Neoliberal economics in Morocco simply means:

• Cities are being transformed into opportunities for generating profits and directing public investment in infrastructure to serve private investments, such as industrial zones and new ports. For example, the new port of Safi cost over 4 billion dirhams, primarily benefiting the thermal power plant owned by the French company Engie (19.34%), the Japanese company Mitsui (30%), and Nareva (50.66%) [2], a subsidiary of the royal holding company Al Mada. This is in addition to the squandering of public resources on projects that are essentially “white elephants,” decided upon by those in power to satisfy their desire to show off to their masters, such as giant football stadiums, massive theatres, high-speed trains [3], etc.
• The decline in public services and the reduction of their budgets have rendered sectors such as health and civil protection incapable of responding effectively and promptly in the event of disasters. Various public sectors, including education, have been deemed a burden on the state treasury due to the structural adjustment Structural Adjustment Economic policies imposed by the IMF in exchange of new loans or the rescheduling of old loans.
  
  Structural Adjustments policies were enforced in the early 1980 to qualify countries for new loans or for debt rescheduling by the IMF and the World Bank. The requested kind of adjustment aims at ensuring that the country can again service its external debt. Structural adjustment usually combines the following elements : devaluation of the national currency (in order to bring down the prices of exported goods and attract strong currencies), rise in interest rates (in order to attract international capital), reduction of public expenditure (’streamlining’ of public services staff, reduction of budgets devoted to education and the health sector, etc.), massive privatisations, reduction of public subsidies to some companies or products, freezing of salaries (to avoid inflation as a consequence of deflation). These SAPs have not only substantially contributed to higher and higher levels of indebtedness in the affected countries ; they have simultaneously led to higher prices (because of a high VAT rate and of the free market prices) and to a dramatic fall in the income of local populations (as a consequence of rising unemployment and of the dismantling of public services, among other factors).
  
  IMF : http://www.worldbank.org/ programme imposed by the World Bank World Bank
  WB The World Bank was founded as part of the new international monetary system set up at Bretton Woods in 1944. Its capital is provided by member states’ contributions and loans on the international money markets. It financed public and private projects in Third World and East European countries.
  
  It consists of several closely associated institutions, among which :
  
  1. The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD, 189 members in 2017), which provides loans in productive sectors such as farming or energy ;
  
  2. The International Development Association (IDA, 159 members in 1997), which provides less advanced countries with long-term loans (35-40 years) at very low interest (1%) ;
  
  3. The International Finance Corporation (IFC), which provides both loan and equity finance for business ventures in developing countries.
  
  As Third World Debt gets worse, the World Bank (along with the IMF) tends to adopt a macro-economic perspective. For instance, it enforces adjustment policies that are intended to balance heavily indebted countries’ payments. The World Bank advises those countries that have to undergo the IMF’s therapy on such matters as how to reduce budget deficits, round up savings, enduce foreign investors to settle within their borders, or free prices and exchange rates.
  
  and the International Monetary Fund IMF
  International Monetary Fund Along with the World Bank, the IMF was founded on the day the Bretton Woods Agreements were signed. Its first mission was to support the new system of standard exchange rates.
  
  When the Bretton Wood fixed rates system came to an end in 1971, the main function of the IMF became that of being both policeman and fireman for global capital: it acts as policeman when it enforces its Structural Adjustment Policies and as fireman when it steps in to help out governments in risk of defaulting on debt repayments.
  
  As for the World Bank, a weighted voting system operates: depending on the amount paid as contribution by each member state. 85% of the votes is required to modify the IMF Charter (which means that the USA with 17,68% % of the votes has a de facto veto on any change).
  
  The institution is dominated by five countries: the United States (16,74%), Japan (6,23%), Germany (5,81%), France (4,29%) and the UK (4,29%).
  The other 183 member countries are divided into groups led by one country. The most important one (6,57% of the votes) is led by Belgium. The least important group of countries (1,55% of the votes) is led by Gabon and brings together African countries.
  
  http://imf.org . Consequently, these sectors must be transferred to the private sector, transforming them into commodities Commodities The goods exchanged on the commodities market, traditionally raw materials such as metals and fuels, and cereals. and effectively excluding the vast majority of the population from accessing their services.
• An export-orientated economy: Most economic activities are focused on exporting goods abroad, primarily benefiting local and global companies. This approach incurs substantial investments, exploits our resources—such as fish and phosphate in the case of Safi—pollutes our air and seas, and leads to the depletion and contamination of water resources.

3. The grinding mill of climate change: the most dangerous expression of the civilizational crisis the world is experiencing today
Climate change is not an accidental event or a future prediction; it is a live reality today, a consequence of a global capitalist economy managed by major powers and giant corporations, particularly in the Global North, while impoverished populations, especially in the Global South, bear the brunt of its catastrophic consequences.

Morocco exemplifies the climate injustice that the world faces today. As one of the least polluting countries globally, it produces only 1.81 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent per capita each year [4], accounting for less than 0.18% of total global greenhouse gas emissions. Consequently, its contribution to overall climate change is minimal, if not negligible. Morocco is one of the most affected by climate change and is ill-equipped to adapt. Additionally, the government’s withdrawal from public sectors, combined with the depletion of its resources through the dual pressures of economic liberalism and political authoritarianism, hampers its ability to address and mitigate the impacts of these changes, particularly in relation to extreme events such as floods and droughts.

Climate change linked to global warming and its catastrophic effects on vital sectors in Morocco is now an undeniable reality. The rise in average temperature, the decrease and irregularity of rainfall, the increasing frequency and severity of droughts (1980-1985, 1991-2006, 2016-), the six-year drought expected to last until 2024, the increasing number and intensity of floods (Casablanca 2010, Guelmim and Tiznit 2014, Taroudant 2016, Casablanca and Rabat 2017, Ouarzazate 2024, etc.), and the current floods in Safi are among the most significant manifestations of these climate changes in Morocco. Furthermore, recent reports from the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) warn [5] of even more severe impacts on our region in the future if the largest polluters do not drastically reduce their emissions.

4. The Catastrophic Convergence of the Three grinding mills
These millstones operate in a complex manner, like mechanical gears, each relying on and reinforcing the others. The following diagram attempts to summarise this complex relationship between these milestones, which, in my opinion, largely explains the decline and misery suffered by the majority of our people:

The diagram attempts to illustrate the relationships between these three millstones as follows:

• Political authoritarianism as a lever for further economic liberalisation: Political authoritarianism is used as a tool to impose economic liberalisation, privatisation, and the signing of “free” trade agreements with a neo-colonial character.
• Economic liberalism deepens inequality and increases exploitation: the ruling classes benefit from privatisation and export-orientated policies to accumulate more profits and wealth, thus deepening inequality.
• Exploitation exacerbates the effects of climate change: The overexploitation of natural resources, driven by economic priorities, intensifies the impacts of climate change.
• Climate change is used to justify further control and exploitation: Climate change serves as a rationale for the control of natural resources, facilitating capital accumulation through dispossession.

These dynamics create a vicious cycle where each element reinforces the other, resulting in the aforementioned disastrous outcomes.

5. The need for popular creative convergence in the face of catastrophic convergence

In 2015, I spent nearly three years in this ancient city, rich in historical symbols and natural potential, especially its high cliffs, where I loved to enjoy the sunset. However, I was also astonished by the extent of the poverty and marginalisation plaguing it. I was shocked to find that some of its poor neighbourhoods were like the “countryside of the city” in 1980s Casablanca, where I grew up.

In some parts of the city, I experienced a sense of timelessness, as if its inhabitants were under a curse or punishment. Furthermore, I discovered during my work that some companies preferred not to hire local youth, claiming they were known for their union activism and were “stubborn” and “difficult” simply because they defended their rights and dignity.

The extent of the contradiction, injustice, and exploitation suffered by the residents of Safi becomes doubly clear when we consider the importance of the city’s industrial facilities: the second largest chemical complex for phosphate processing, the second largest thermal power plant producing approximately 25% [6]of Morocco’s energy consumption, cement and gypsum factories, and canning plants... Yet, in exchange for such massive investments, the citizens have received nothing but exclusion, pollution, and injustice in all its forms.

These contradictions and the extent of the injustice suffered by the residents of Safi, like most cities and regions in our country, are rooted in the disastrous convergence of the three aforementioned forces: political despotism, economic neoliberalism and its forms of neo-colonialism, and climate change. Faced with this catastrophic convergence, a counter-convergence is essential: a creative and innovative one built on unifying the various struggles and forms of resistance devised by citizens from the grassroots level in different fields and regions (labor rights, women’s rights, housing, the defense of land and resources, collective and individual freedoms, and the youth of Generation Z and their defense of health and education, etc.). This convergence must be founded on the principles of humility and dialogue, as opposed to arrogance and exclusion. Our alternatives must consider our concrete reality, draw upon the positive aspects of our culture and heritage, and reconcile with our identity. Our alternatives must break with the prevailing perspectives of modernity based on the necessity of catching up with “developed” countries. As Frantz Fanon emphasized, our dreams and goals must transcend the European and American way of life.

In contrast to all forms of centralized and bureaucratic control, all industrial facilities and infrastructure must be placed under the oversight of the local population and users through elected local councils. These councils would discuss and decide on the budgets of all these institutions, determine priorities, and debate, refine, and enrich projects and technical ideas with treasured accumulated knowledge of generations over decades.

The sovereignty of local populations over their territories, resources, and institutions, along with the effective harnessing of their production to meet their fundamental interests while fully respecting their ecological environment, is the only means by which we can avert such disasters.