Kenitra (Morocco) (AFP) - When Ahmed Al-Habashi was forced to leave his village in northwestern Morocco to escape sweeping floods, he thought that this displacement would not last long. Three weeks later, Ramadan came and he was still living in a tent under miserable conditions.

Published on: 02/22/2026 - 13:21

“We prepare breakfast with what we have,” says the 37-year-old construction worker, in the absence of many materials, speaking to Agence France-Presse in front of one of the blue tents erected in a temporary camp set up by the authorities in the Quneitra region to shelter those displaced as a result of the exceptional rains that fell on the region in late January and early February.

A few dozen tents are still erected on the muddy ground, where displaced families live without running water or electricity.

At sunset, women are busy preparing breakfast, and families gather in their tents by candlelight to eat.

Although most of the region's residents were allowed to return to their homes, Ahmed Al-Habashi confirms that it is impossible for him to return with his children to the village of Ould Amer, located 35 kilometers away.

“Where do we sleep? The mud is still up to my knees,” he says, showing video clips of his house surrounded by water and half of its walls washed away by the floods on his phone.

He added, "We are managing until we can return to our homes. It takes us two or three months to return to a normal life."

Camp officials distribute water and a bag of rice a day to its residents, but Fatima Lajouj says, "This is not the Ramadan we are used to."

The sixty-year-old woman who works as a berry picker explains, “We are short of everything: bread, calories, and even milk. How can we buy goods when we have no money? We no longer work. The agricultural lands have been destroyed.”

"Every day at a time"

More than 180,000 people were evacuated due to floods that left four dead, according to authorities.

A few kilometers away from the Quneitra camp, in the town of Al-Mukran, located on the Sebou River, mud is still covering the roads.

The effects of the floods are visible in homes visited by Agence France-Presse reporters, including broken walls and water-soaked floors, while families left their belongings piled on top of cupboards and drawers for fear of the water level rising again.

Youmna Shatata, 42 years old, says that this is the first month of Ramadan that has come to her while she is outside her home, in which she has lived for twenty years.

She returned home two days ago after spending 15 days in a tent, only to find her small house uninhabitable and its walls about to collapse.

Mansour Omrani (59 years old) prepares to go to the village mosque to fill bottles of drinking water. Despite the poor conditions, he, his wife Zahr, and their three daughters plan to prepare a dish of couscous for breakfast.

The man who works as a security officer in a cable factory says, “Under normal circumstances, there would be joy as we prepared couscous. But today is not the same as before.”

"We are afraid that the house will collapse on our heads," he says. He previously owned a grocery store that he set up in one of the rooms of his house, which was damaged by floods.

Abdul Majeed Kahil, a 49-year-old street vendor, complains of the fatigue accumulated over the exhausting nights in the camp, making the situation even more desperate.

After he returned home, he says, “Food is no longer available as before,” which makes it difficult to prepare breakfast.

“The mud prevents us from visiting a neighbor, relative, or friend,” he added, adding that they are living the month of Ramadan this year “one day at a time.”

© 2026 AFP

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