2024-03-19 20:00:00
Is Algeria pulling out all stops to appropriate the ancestral arts of Morocco? Senior officials affiliated with the Algerian government would have mobilized intermediaries to recruit Moroccan artisans, sought following according to the needs of the local market, the daily Assabah understands, specifying that these specialized workers are exploited “in the hotel industry, where different professions of the traditional Moroccan craftsmanship, whose know-how on gypsum and painting, are highly coveted by the Algerian military.”
Read:Sellou: Algeria accused of appropriating a Moroccan classic
Moroccan artisans who find themselves in an irregular situation in Algeria have difficulty returning to Morocco. They come across “mafiosi”, who exploit them “as they see fit, promising to help them reach a hypothetical European shore”. According to a Moroccan artisan who was able to return to Morocco, his peers are exploited in construction sites where they are forced to work in inhumane conditions. Comments confirmed by Brahim Al Ghouti, a researcher, specialist and expert in Moroccan heritage.
To read: Heritage: Morocco protects itself from Algeria
The situation of Moroccan artisans established legally in Algeria is far from rosy. Solicited by Algerian businessmen, personalities and security officials, they are exploited in their luxurious residences in Algiers, of which they take care of the decoration. These Moroccan artisans find themselves being “denigrated and overexploited; and, in several cases, their papers and passports are confiscated from them, until the construction site is completed,” where they are mobilized and subjected to “threats of being imprisoned,” according to other testimonies collected by the daily.
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