Casablanca | The Moroccan Interior Ministry has once again turned down a request of an Amazigh couple from Meknes by denying them the right to name their newborn daughter an Amazigh names “Yelli” “My Daughter” who was born on June 15th, 2016.
Although the new Moroccan constitutional carry law giving Amazigh parents the absolute right to name their children Amazigh names, Amazigh people are still facing intimidation and difficulty at the birth registration office when they decide using Amazigh names.
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The father Jadou Driss have vowed to keep the name, “We have named our daughter “Yelli”. Whether they will give identity card or not, she will remain “Yelli”. We will never change her name”.
Historically, Amazigh language was criminalized, and those who used Amazigh names were immediately denied. But due to the increasingly Amazigh protest movement, the Moroccan state could not afford to continue criminalizing Amazigh language, and gradually language rights were slowly granted in principle but never in practice.
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