Morocco’s decision to add Tamazight to the next generation of biometric passports is already widening the debate over where the country’s official Amazigh language should appear next.
AkalPress reported on July 14, 2026 that the passport reform has triggered renewed calls to add Tamazight to Morocco’s national identity cards and banknotes as well. The article points to Organic Law No. 26.16, which lays out a gradual timetable for integrating Amazigh into public life and specifically cites official documents and state-issued materials that campaigners say should carry both Arabic and Amazigh.
The immediate trigger was a separate AkalPress report published on July 10, 2026, after Morocco’s Council of Government adopted draft decree No. 2.26.551. According to that report, the reform will add Tamazight to the passport alongside Arabic, French and English, remove the holder’s address from the data page, end issuance of temporary passports, and phase in the new passport format nationwide by August 2026.
For many Amazigh advocates, the passport change is significant because it places Tamazight on one of the state’s most visible official documents. But activists quoted and summarized by AkalPress argue that the same principle should now extend to the electronic national identity card, coins and banknotes, postage stamps, and other administrative documents listed in the organic law.
The current debate therefore goes beyond symbolism. It raises a practical question about whether Morocco’s formal recognition of Tamazight will continue to advance document by document, or whether authorities will move faster to implement the broader obligations already set out in law.