Crackdown on Morocco's Gen Z protest reaches beyond borders to disapora community

Despite the suppression of Morocco's late-September Gen Z protests, which left the streets empty and silent, authorities have continued to apply significant pressure on those connected to the movement, including members living abroad.

On 12 February, Zineb Kharroubi, a 28-year-old activist based in France who became a recognisable figure within the movement, was taken into custody upon landing at Marrakech airport.

She was released on bail the following day and now faces charges related to encouraging participation in unsanctioned protests through her online activity. Her next court appearance is set for 9 March.

The wave of protests that swept Morocco called for improvements in education, healthcare, and job opportunities, alongside demands to address widespread government corruption. Three people lost their lives during the unrest, underscoring the intensity of the confrontations between protesters and security forces.

Beyond Morocco's borders, a growing network of young activists in France organised solidarity demonstrations, with Kharroubi emerging as one of the most prominent voices of the Moroccan Gen Z movement in the country.

Before the protests gained momentum, she had already been active in feminist and student organising within Morocco. Professionally, she works as a film producer and distributor, supporting young Moroccan filmmakers willing to tackle politically sensitive subjects.

According to the Moroccan human rights group AMDH, more than 5,700 young people were arrested in relation to the GenZ 212 movement, with over 1,000, among them minors, still being held today.

According to Le Monde, since early February, trials of those prosecuted for their alleged involvement in the protests have been moving at an accelerating pace. Over the past months, dozens of protesters have already been sentenced to between five and fifteen years.

The crackdown drew sharp international condemnation. Amnesty International condemned what it described as a violent crackdown on the youth-led movement. It calls on Morocco to protect the right to peaceful protest, raising concerns that many of those facing charges under Moroccan law were arrested before any acts of violence had even been reported.

Ahmed Benchemsi, MENA spokesperson for Human Rights Watch, told The New Arab that the scale of the movement clearly alarmed authorities, prompting a severe crackdown to send a clear political message. "It will not allow dissent. It's as simple as that," he says.

This movement marked the widest protests since the 2017 Hirak uprising in the Rif region and the 2011 regional uprisings. "This is the first nationwide protest since the Arab Spring," Benchemsi explains. "The 2017 protests were only localised, but these spread across the country."

Benchemsi notes that dissent has been increasingly suppressed. "There was much more space for free speech and protest when King Mohammed VI took power 25 years ago. The crackdown has clearly gotten worse."

Crucially, this intimidation campaign is not aimed solely at diaspora members who voiced support for the Gen Z movement. It equally targets figures operating from within the kingdom itself. Mohammed Khalif, 29, a protest figure based in Casablanca, was arrested on 16 February over messages he had shared the previous autumn on Discord, the platform through which GenZ 212 members organise and communicate.

According to the Moroccan news organisation Enass, that same week, security forces carried out a series of interrogations and pursuit operations targeting other movement activists across the city.

The combination of domestic arrests and the detention of a diaspora activist upon her return home has sent a clear warning signal far beyond Morocco itself and among the estimated five million Moroccans living abroad.

Moroccans make up one of Europe's largest and most geographically dispersed migrant communities, with over 1.1 million in France and around 363,000 in the Netherlands alone, roughly 2% of the Dutch population. This diaspora has deep roots in Europe, shaped by a series of bilateral labour agreements that Morocco signed with several European nations in the 1950s and 1960s, which set the terms of mass emigration for generations to come.

Today, many in that community are rethinking even basic decisions.

Hassan Ayi, coordinator of the Dutch branch of AMDH, outlined how Kharroubi's arrest has made itself felt even among those living in the Netherlands: "Many Moroccan-Dutch activists no longer dare to visit family in Morocco after Zineb's arrest."

His organisation is now advising activists to notify AMDH before travelling to Morocco, so that any disappearances or sudden detentions can be flagged and responded to quickly.

Those close to Kharroubi are watching her case with deep apprehension. "We fear the consequences of this trial, which is being used as a warning to anyone in the Moroccan diaspora who takes a clear political stance," said a close source.