Ten Years After Morocco’s Hirak Protests: Unmet Demands and Lingering Repression in the Rif

Ten Years of Rif Protests

Ten years after demonstrations erupted across northern Morocco, imprisonment and youth migration continue to define the Rif region, nos.nl reported.

Ten years after the beginning of the Hirak protests, captivity and departure continue to leave their mark on the Rif, according to reporting published on October 30, 2026.

The mass protests, known as the Hirak movement, began in late October 2016 following the death of fishmonger Mohcine Fikri, according to bladna.nl. Fikri was crushed to death in a garbage truck in Al Hoceima while attempting to retrieve a 500-kilogram cargo of swordfish confiscated by local authorities.

His death galvanized thousands of residents who took to the streets to demand hospitals, a university, and an end to regional marginalization, nos.nl reported. The call for hospitals, a university, but above all dignity, sounded loudly through the streets of Al Hoceima ten years ago, with thousands taking to the streets for months.

Lina, a 24-year-old resident who joined the demonstrations as a student the day after Fikri died, recalled how a teacher urged their class outside, saying, “What are you doing here? Go outside and demand justice.”

Crackdown and Sentences

Authorities dismantled the protests by the spring of 2017 and arrested key organizers, nos.nl reported. Prominent Hirak leader Nasser Zefzafi and activist Nabil Ahamjik were among those given 20-year prison sentences in 2018, which the Court of Cassatie later upheld, bladna.nl reported.

Six prominent activists remain behind bars a decade later, according to human rights organization AMDH. Zohra Koubia of AMDH noted that Fikri is still viewed as a martyr in the Rif and argued that the region’s pain will persist until authorities take accountability for his death.

“Even if they are released tomorrow, their lives are completely ruined,” Koubia said regarding the remaining prisoners.

Activist Mohamed Jelloul, who had just finished a five-year sentence before being arrested again for his role in the Hirak movement, received an additional 10-year term, nos.nl reported. His 75-year-old mother, Rhimou Saidi, described facing ongoing state repression and humiliation, a concept known locally as ‘hogra’.

“My son Mohamed is a real man,” Saidi stated, adding that he was not a good-for-nothing and wanted his country to be free, with better facilities so that they could be just like Europe.

Infrastructure Improvements Fail to Stop Residents from Leaving

While Al Hoceima has received upgraded roads and new buildings, basic infrastructure improvements have failed to stop residents from leaving, according to reporting from the EFE news agency cited by bladna.nl. Koubia told nos.nl that while a hospital was built, it largely consists of “only the walls and the machines.”

Families of imprisoned activists continue long, exhausting journeys across Morocco to visit relatives transferred to distant facilities such as Tanger 2 prison, nos.nl and bladna.nl reported. Meanwhile, recent younger generations who took to the streets have also faced swift government crackdowns, leaving little room for public dissent.