Disabled graduate protest in Rabat

Reuters humanitarian alert service Alertnet is reporting that around 100 disabled Moroccan graduates blocked roads and a rail line by chaining themselves together in the capital Rabat on Thursday to demand public sector jobs.

Dozens of protesters sat on the northbound rail line at Rabat's central station, drawing hundreds of onlookers and bringing trains to a standstill for half an hour before they were removed by police, witnesses said.

A smaller group blocked one of the city's busiest road intersections and chanted their demands for work until firemen separated them with cutting equipment and police drove them away in ambulances and riot vans.

Witnesses said some protesters at the station were kicked, beaten and threatened by members of the security services.

"For about 30 minutes we managed to stop the Rabat-Fez train leaving but the police intervened violently against us," said Abdelkrim Boukhari, a member of Morocco's National Committee of Blind, Jobless Graduates.

"We've suffered from unemployment for seven years. The government promised four times to solve our problems but never kept the promises," he said.

Around 1 million of Morocco's 30 million population are officially unemployed and joblessness is especially high among graduates after state payroll cuts led to a dearth of public sector jobs.

Some graduates have been severely injured after drinking petrol and insecticide or setting themselves alight to protest over their plight.

Tags: Moroccan Morocco Fes, Maghreb news