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		</div><p>Hundreds of protesters have taken to the streets of a city near the epicentre of the devastating earthquake that hit Morocco last month to express anger and frustration after weeks of waiting for emergency assistance.</p>
<p>Flanked by honking cars and motorcycles, demonstrators in the High Atlas town of Amizmiz chanted anti-government slogans as law enforcement officers tried to contain the crowds.</p>
<p>The protest followed a workers’ strike and torrential weekend storms which exacerbated hardship for residents living in tents near the remains of their former homes.</p>
<p>“Amizmiz is down!” men yelled in Tachelhit, Morocco’s most widely spoken indigenous language.</p>
<p>Entire neighbourhoods were flatted by the earthquake on September 8, forcing thousands to relocate to temporary shelters.</p>
<p>In Amizmiz and the surrounding villages of Morocco’s Al Haouz province, nearly everyone lost a family member or friend.</p>
<p>Tuesday’s protest was initially organised by a group called Amizmiz Earthquake Victims’ Co-ordination to draw attention to “negligence by local and regional officials” and to denounce how some residents had been excluded from emergency aid.</p>
<p>“The state of the camps is catastrophic,” Mohamed Belhassan, the co-ordinator of the group told Moroccan news site Hespress.</p>
<p>The group, however, called off its planned march after meeting with local authorities who ultimately pledged to address their concerns.</p>
<figure id="attachment_180760" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-180760" style="width: 631px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img src="https://londonglossy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/7E7EE3D7-1EC6-4854-8DCE-A1188C9B86EE.jpeg" alt="" width="631" height="422" class="size-full wp-image-180760" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-180760" class="wp-caption-text">People dig through the rubble in Amizmiz as they try to salvage belongings and equipment</figcaption></figure>
<p>Despite the organisers’ cancellation, hundreds still swarmed the streets to protest at the conditions.</p>
<p>Protesters waved Moroccan flags and directed their anger towards local authorities, saying they had failed to provide the emergency assistance announced by Moroccan King Mohammed VI’s Royal Cabinet.</p>
<p>They chanted “Long Live the King” but implored him to visit Amizmiz to check on how local authorities are carrying out his decrees.</p>
<p>They protested about a need for dignity and justice, decrying years of marginalisation.</p>
<p>In the earthquake’s aftermath, Morocco convened a commission and formed a special recovery fund.</p>
<p>The government announced earlier this month that it had begun disbursing initial monthly payments of 2,500 Moroccan dirhams (about £195) and planned to later provide up to 140,000 dirhams (nearly £11,000) to rebuild destroyed homes.</p>
<p>Residents of Amizmiz told the Associated Press earlier this month that, although many had given authorities their contact information, most households had not yet received emergency cash assistance.</p>
<p>In Amizmiz, which had 14,299 residents according to Morocco’s most recent census, many worry about shelter as winter in the Atlas mountains approaches.</p>
<p>A mobile banking unit began operating in the town square in the aftermath of the earthquake.</p>
<p>Local officials collected phone numbers to send banking codes to allow residents to get their cash. For many, the subsequent delays were the final straw, Mr Belhassan told Hespress.</p>
<p>The Amizmiz protest over delays in aid comes after Morocco faced criticism for accepting limited help from only four foreign governments several days after the earthquake killed a reported 2,901 people.</p>
<p>Officials said the decision was intended to prevent clogged roads and chaos in days critical for emergency response.</p>
<p>Search and rescue crews unable to reach the country expressed frustration for not getting the green light from the Moroccan government.</p>
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