Morocco

Human activities are largely responsible for a loss of forest cover in Morocco. The government is taking steps to combat deforestation, but more remains to be done. In recent years ecologists and officials have raised the alarm that without sufficient awareness campaigns and government action, Morocco may lose its forests.

A royal birth followed immediately by an amnesty for more than a dozen death-row prisoners, among others, is being interpreted in Morocco as a signal that the country is on the verge of making history in the Arab world by being the first to abolish the death penalty.

The subject of women who have children out of wedlock remains taboo in Moroccan society. These single women are often forced to flee from their families and abandon their children. Organizations such INSAF and the Women's Solidarity Association of Casablanca are some of the few places these women can go for support.

For the first time in decades, the deserted Western Sahara village of Tifariti is reawakening to life. Located in the strip of land close to the Mauritanian desert border that is under the control of the Sahrawi pro-independence movement Polisario, Tifariti today is hosting "more than 800 delegates" participating in an international solidarity conference.

Swedish freelance photographer Lars Björk was expelled from Moroccan-controlled Western Sahara on the evening of 20 February, a day after his arrest in the territory’s capital, El Aaiún, RSF reports. The authorities made him take the first bus north to Agadir, where he boarded a flight back to Europe.

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