Wednesday, March 13, 2019

Protests Over Closure of Desert Camps in Merzouga


The government is dismantling desert camps in the Erg Chebbi dunes of the Sahara, 40 kilometers from the city of Merzouga in eastern Morocco

Morocco World News is reporting that the local government hired workers to help dismantle tourist camps in the Merzouga region, accompanied by approximately 200 military personnel to discourage protests, according to a Morocco World News source. The government allegedly tore down approximately 12 camps last weekend, and the told the rest to vacate the area or be forcibly removed.

One luxury desert camp received notice that it must close but with no details of when or why, the owner told MWN. The camp has bookings until late 2020, which raises the question of what will happen to the guests who have booked or the camp owners with finances at stake.

The camp owner argued that the camps do good for the area and Morocco as a whole. Her business, she said, had “vigorously " promoted Morocco, and specially Merzouga.” She asserted her company had “spent over 3 million dirhams in developing the camp and promoting Morocco.”


Those who have most at stake if the desert camps are shut down are the locals. Thousands of tourists visit the desert camps each year to experience Saharan sand dunes and provide the main source of local employment.

The camp owner MWN spoke to said they “source food locally and employ mostly local staff from the area,” which consists of a team of “42 workers, plus 3 other (sic) at the office.” Cameleers, food suppliers, and tour operators are also going to be affected.

It is of no question that the desert camps help the area economically, so why are they being shut down? Although no official answer has been given yet, either to the media or camp owners, it may be for environmental or security reasons. Concerns have been raised regarding waste and sewage disposal and water usage by the dozens of desert camps in the area.

There is allegedly no differentiation being made by the authorities between the camps that are registered and environmentally conscious and those that are unlicensed, “squatting” on the land and damaging the environment. Will all the camps in Erg Chebbi be given notice that they must close or do authorities have some kind of criteria to allow some camps to stay?

The luxury camp owner told MWN that her camp is a “registered Moroccan company with proper documentation and paying high taxes each month to the Moroccan government. We have proper insurance to run the camp.” She continued, “We have adequate security procedures in place at the camp to ensure the safety of everyone.”

The removal of the camps has received heavy backlash from the locals in Merzouga. On Monday, March 11, hundreds of locals protested the decision at a demonstration. The protesters waved Moroccan flags and carried banners, saying, “No to the unjust negative decisions” and “Together for dialogue for the legalisation and organisation of desert tourism camps.”

SHARE THIS!

6 comments:

Tony said...

They should ban quad bikes and people driving over the dunes, un environmental and also very dangerous, surely they can regulate the impact of the camps!?

Unknown said...

Oh no, we have reservations in 5 weeks!

Khamlia said...

I am agree with Tony. And actually if they remove luxury camps it would not be bad, because those destroy sand dunes also. To have there running water and toilets straight into the sand cannot be so great for the environment. I doubt they have sewage treatment plants or sewage there. But small simple camps should remain, though not so many as it is now. So little cleaning of camps does not hurt at all.

Anonymous said...

M Khamlia asks the correct question.
How do the camps dispose of sewage, waste water and rubbish?

Anonymous said...

A friend tells me that MWN have missed something. The camp closures were not unexpected. The business owners had been warned that this would happen some time back. There were deadlines, set by local authorities, in place.

Tim Cullis said...

Part of one of my posts regarding this at TripAdvisor, https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowTopic-g293730-i9195-k12384641-o40-The_government_removed_all_the_desert_camps_in_Merzouga-Morocco.html

"I am told that in December 2017 the hotels began to vigorously raise objections regarding the desert camps. Many ideas were bandied around regarding a way forward and a 'desert camp association' was established to liaise with local administration.

The hotels wanted the tents to be issued with an authorisation license through them, in other words each hotel/guesthouse would be responsible for a desert camp. In effect this meant that the hotels would own the desert camp and of course this wasn't agreeable to the camps.

In December 2018 the administration from Errachidia town visited the camps. They confirmed that in principle desert camps could stay, although they also confirmed that there were a small number that were not of acceptable safety/standard/style to continue operating."