After Tifnit and other fishing villages on the coast south of Agadir, then the islet of Sidi Abderrahmane facing the Corniche of Casablanca, it is the turn of Dahomey, near Bouznika, to see its homes destroyed. The “surprise” operation began on 16 January 2024, with residents denouncing in a statement “arbitrary and authoritarian acts which affect the property and dignity of the inhabitants of Dahomey beach”.
It was with surprise and astonishment that the residents of Dahomey Plage witnessed Tuesday January 16, 2024, a forceful action by bulldozers which, under the supervision of local authorities, destroyed the terraces and garages of more than a hundred homes in Dahomey ,” according to a press release attributed to the residents of this small beach community near Bouznika. “Sheds were gutted while the owners were absent, and this, under the eyes of the authorities .”
The residents claim not to have “been warned of this action which was carried out to general surprise”, arguing that “ no official document justifying this destruction was given to them by the police who were on site ” despite their requests.
“This state violence, which ignores all the administrative, regulatory and legal requirements, is worrying for the rule of law and the rights of citizens,” says the press release. Residents say they wonder: “What are the legal decisions that allowed the destruction of their homes? Who are their interlocutors? At which table should we sit to stop the massacre and brutal destruction of their homes?”
The destruction continued on the 17th. A former campsite, the beach area had seen some of its prefabricated dwellings (sheds) transformed into permanent houses over the years.
Earlier in the previous week, the local authorities of Casablanca demolished the constructions surrounding the mausoleum of Sidi Abderrahmane, on the orders of the wali of Casablanca, Mohamed Mhidia. In recent weeks, operations to free illegally occupied public spaces have multiplied across the city and beyond. At the end of December, the village of Tifnit, south of Agadir, was already targeted by excavators for “illegal occupation of the maritime domain”. Tuesday January 9, between Tifnit and Douira, fishermen recover materials from the caves destroyed the day before.
The few fishing villages further south are likely to suffer the same fate, as the destruction continues in the Souss-Massa region, where many families are losing their main residence, apparently without the required prior notice.
In additional to costal sites, authorities are also targeting Amazigh villages for demolition such as the ones that were within or near the epicenter of last year’s earthquake. In the case of the Imsouane village, residents say they have received a 24-hour evacuation order but they have no place to go. Authorities ended up bulldozing the village as residents struggle to gather their belongings in time.