In recent days, both Morocco and Libya have been struck by horrific natural disasters. On the 14th of September, a 6.8 magnitude earthquake struck the rural town of Ighil, 44 miles south of the country’s capital, Marrakesh. The earthquake caused widespread destruction to the region’s infrastructure and buildings and has resulted in a death toll of 2,497 with an additional 2,476 injured, and still rising. In Libya, two dams burst, causing disastrous flooding that has led to nearly 4,000 deaths and 9,000 people still missing. Both tragedies have deeply impacted the countries they hit and it will take years of rebuilding efforts and rehabilitation to recover.
However, while both tragedies can be considered similar due to the geographical proximity of these countries and the fact that both events were once-in-a-century level natural disasters, the responses of their respective governments and the world are extremely different. Why?
Libya, an oil-rich country, was under foreign control for centuries, until 1951. Then, an autocratic government held power for four decades until the autocrat, Colonel Gaddafi, was executed in 2011. Since then, the country has been in political turmoil, splitting Libya into two, the east and the west. Although a ceasefire was signed in recent years, political rivalries between the eastern-based government of National Stability and the western-based government of National Unity still continue, with both claiming to be Libya’s official rulers. This internal civil war has complicated international relations, infrastructure, regional stability and humanitarian rights.
Morocco on the other hand since independence has remained relatively stable and therefore has a lot of influence. Morocco has a constitutional monarchy with a relatively well-established political system. The country has also made efforts to modernise its economy and improve living standards for its citizens.
Due to these differences in stability, the responses to the disasters differ extremely. Due to the lack of unity in Libya, the rising death toll could have been avoided by issuing warnings and carrying out evacuation of the people. Libyans are blaming the corrupt administrations who fail to govern the nation for ignoring the warnings about the dam’s security. Entering the area comes with its own challenges, as a visa to Libya does not translate to a visa to East Libya. In addition to this, the United Nations has imposed various sanctions on Libya due to the nation’s violence. So, there are limited offers for international aid due to fear of involvement in politics, and they only started to reach the country two days later, far too late to hold onto the hope of saving lives.
In Morocco, however, it is much easier to enter the country and much less political to offer aid. So, many countries are offering aid as they are certain their humanitarian groups can enter the country safely, and are in a country that is under the rule of a stable government. and therefore Morocco has the ability to choose to refuse aid and has the stability to handle the situation effectively and responsibly, unlike Libya.
Learning about this as a UWC student upset me. This situation and the reactions of others directly go against our values, to unite for a sustainable future. This situation has highlighted the divides that power brings and its destructive impact on the common people. It is not the fault of the victims, survivors or families that their home country’s politics are so unstable that they are unable to protect their citizens by building strong infrastructure and having operations and plans in place to activate in times like these. In a more developed, stable country, at the very least the death toll could be significantly lower, which would leave fewer mourning families and angry citizens. The difference in international reaction exacerbated the issue, leaving the clean-up in the hands of a corrupt government. So, I acknowledge that as a high school student in Singapore, it is difficult to make a sizable change in a situation being watched by the world. However, I decided to write about this to invoke a response in other students like me to force us to question why the actions of a few people in power should cause thousands of deaths and minimal international help.
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