Morocco’s Upper House Adopts Bill Conferring ‘Nation Wards’ Status to Al Haouz Quake-Affected Children

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The House of Councilors on Tuesday adopted by majority Bill n° 50.23 conferring the status of “Wards of the Nation” to children victims of the Al Haouz earthquake.    Presenting this bill, Minister Delegate to the Head of Government in charge of National Defense Administration, Abdeltif Loudyi, said that this legislative text is part of the High Instructions of HM King Mohammed VI for the immediate support of orphaned children who lost their families and found themselves without resources, following the violent earthquake that struck the province of Al Haouz on September 8 and impacted the prefecture of Marrakech and the provinces of Chichaoua, Taroudant, Ouarzazate and Azilal.    In application of the High Royal Instructions, this bill includes three articles aimed at extending the provisions relating to the rights stipulated in Law No. 33-97 concerning the Wards of the Nation (promulgated by Dahir No. 1- 99-191 of August 25, 1999), as a text regulating this status to include child victims of the Al Haouz earthquake fulfilling the conditions allowing them to enjoy the status of the Wards of the Nation, like the child victims of the earthquake that struck the province of Al Hoceima in 2004, Loudyi underlined.    The bill defines the conditions for conferring the status of “The Wards of the Nation” to victims of Al Haouz earthquake and stipulates that this status is granted to children whose father or main supporter died following the Al Haouz earthquake or died following injuries sustained during this earthquake, he pointed out.    In this regard, the Minister Delegate stressed that like the laws in force in this context, the bill considers as main support any person who took care of the child at the time of the death of the father or even during his lifetime, adding that to ensure the application of the provisions of this bill, the second article stipulates the creation of an administrative commission in the prefecture of Marrakech and the provinces of Al Haouz, Chichaoua, Taroudant and Azilal, whose mission is to identify and draw up the list of children benefiting from the status of “the Wards of the Nation”.