The earthquake in Morocco on Sept. 8 and the floods in Libya over the weekend of Sept. 10 have both captured the attention of the world. The fact that they are natural disasters and occurred in North Africa have led many to ignore the lines that separate the two disasters.
There are clear differences between the two, however, argues Mirco Keilberth, a German journalist and Libya analyst, in an interview with Al Jazeera.
Both are natural catastrophes, and “people just need stories they can understand… It’s easier, if only psychologically, to combine the two… let’s face it, an earthquake in Morocco is easier to grasp than the politics around the floods in Derna, which disrupt any clear narrative”.
Beyond the flooding at Derna, it was human error and corruption that combined to exacerbate the disaster. It has been widely reported that the lack of governance in Libya, along with a severe neglect in the maintenance of critical infrastructure, led to the disastrous flooding there. Poor government regulation meant that people had built homes and roads on a natural flood plain, and the dams that collapsed had not been repaired since 2002, despite the allocation of funds for that exact purpose.
After the disasters, both countries showed distinct responses to the increased interest of the outside world. The authorities in Derna restricted access to the flood region under the pretense of civil protection, forcing journalists out. These scenes stand in stark contrast to Moroccan authorities who “appeared happy” to support journalists and associations delivering aid.
North Africa Project Director for the Crisis Group Riccardo Fabiani, also interviewed by Al Jazeera, commented on Libya’s crisis management, saying: “The overriding issue is one of division […] There are two governments and any number of militias all competing for influence.”
Fabiani describes Morocco as “vertically integrated,” meaning Morocco has one government and one King, if the King “says something, it happens; all the way from the top to the bottom of society” he added.
Morocco received many offers of international support, and chose groups of rescuers from Qatar, UK, UAE and Spain to work alongside the Moroccan army.
Libya received aid from Egypt, Turkey, Spain, Greece, and the paramilitary Russian Wagner group.
Commentary from Intissar Fakir, a scholar with the Middle East Institute summarizes the challenges Morocco will face in the coming months and years: “Morocco is very fond of its heritage, and those mud and clay adobe houses are undeniably beautiful and warm in winter, but they need modernizing, as do the roads. That’s going to need conversation, compromise and [it] could be complicated”.