Moroccan authorities are leading all response activities, including search and rescue, ensuring adequate blood supply and sending food and critical non-food items to the most affected areas.
Moroccan Red Crescent teams are providing physical and mental health care support, including transportation to hospitals for people with injuries. UN OCHA said, “His Majesty King Mohammed VI has instructed his government to expeditiously continue field relief efforts and provide care to the victims of the earthquake. He has also mobilized Mohammed V Foundation for Solidarity to support citizens in affected areas.”
Governments around the world were quick to express solidarity and offer assistance, including human, logistics, supply and financial resources. Morocco has not issued a broad call for international assistance but has accepted some offers. Spain, Britain and the U.S. are sending disaster teams at the government’s request. The French Foreign Ministry activated a fund that has already received more than USD $2 million in pledges. Algeria opened its air space for medical and humanitarian flights.
Until there is an international appeal, organizations providing support services must already have a presence in the country. It is uncertain if Morocco will ask for assistance. Professor Sylvie Brunel at Paris-Sorbonne University is the former President of Action Against Hunger. She told Le Figaro, “King Mohamed VI therefore wants to keep control of his country. It is also a form of national pride … International humanitarian aid always flows from developed to undeveloped countries. As an emerging country, which wants to be an interlocutor with Europe and which aspires to the status of regional power in Africa, Rabat wants to show that it is sovereign, capable of managing relief, and not behave like a poor country..”
The New York Times reports that the government hasn’t shared much information, and some Moroccans on social media are criticizing the government’s response as “slow and uncoordinated.”
In the mountain village of Douar Tnirt, people received supplies from a charity in Marrakesh on Sunday, three days after the earthquake, but still had not seen any government assistance. The lack of government support has motivated locals to engage in mutual aid and support, providing for each other’s needs without a coordinated plan from Moroccan officials. There are also pre-existing international, national and local non-profits who have been responding since the earthquake hit. CDP maintains a list of these organizations and can help funders decide where to donate.
The first 72 hours after an earthquake are known as the “golden period” when rescuers are most likely to find survivors. It is important that a comprehensive search and rescue effort is carried out during this time.
All but seven of the people killed as of Sept. 12, were found buried in rubble. The government has responded to criticism that they are not taking all the offered assistance by pointing out the logistical challenges in moving large numbers of people to remote and rural villages. They feel that they have enough people to clear roads to provide access for search teams.
As the Associated Press reports, “Quickly getting them to Morocco’s disaster zone in the Atlas Mountains could have been tough. Roads and dirt tracks that can be hard to navigate at the best of times were destroyed and blocked by fallen rocks. Morocco also has bad memories of chaotic international aid that followed another deadly quake in 2004. After the latest temblor, the Interior Ministry cautioned that poorly coordinated aid ‘would be counterproductive.’”
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