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“Renting apartments to Africans is
strictly forbidden,” read signs put up by Casablanca landlords who don’t
want Africans, at least not the dark-skinned Africans.
Observers.france24 This
message hangs in several building lobbies in Casablanca, Morocco. Some
landlords have been enforcing this rule, even though it is completely
illegal.
Our Observer, a student from the Ivory Coast, experienced this
discrimination firsthand a few months ago.
Several photos of these posters,
written in both French and Arabic, have been circulating on social
networks over the past few days. According to our Observers, the photos
were taken in buildings in the residential Farah Essalam neighbourhood
in the Oulfa area, where many students from sub-Saharan Africa live.
Similar posters have also been reported in other parts of town.
While Morocco is located in northern
Africa, many Moroccans don’t consider themselves “Africans”, a term they
generally use to refer to sub-Saharan (black) Africans.
In 2012, three students were
renting an apartment in the Areeda residence in the Oulfa area. As
Africans, they quickly became the target of threats from residents who
didn’t want to have them as neighbors. One day, when they came home from
university, they saw this poster. It read: “It is strictly prohibited
to lease apartments to Africans in this building. Signed: all the
apartment owners.”
After that, they got even more
threats. The apartment’s landlord did everything he could to help us,
but under growing pressure from the other apartment owners, he had to
order them to leave, which we refused. On January 1, 2013, the police
came to force them to leave.
Discrimination against Africans has
been firmly rooted here.
Not all relationships with Moroccans are this
confrontational, but life is definitely more unpleasant if you’re
black.
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