[Faline]

An amateur clip posted on the Euronews website shows five men standing atop a fence dousing themselves with what appears to be gasoline. Seconds later, two of the five are covered in flames before law enforcement officers and shocked onlookers, some of whom ran after the men and tried to put the fires out. Clips purportedly filmed after the incident, which tookplace on Wednesday, showed one of the men with burns across his body.

Self-immolation has become a way to invigorate protest movements in the Middle East. In Tunisia, street vendor Mohammed Bouazizi set himself alight in December 2010 to protest police intimidation, an act that kicked off a popular uprising which soon ousted the longtime Tunisian ruler Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, and inspired similar uprisings in other countries in the region.

Agence France-Presse reported Friday that one of Wednesday's self-immolaters was in serious condition. Mohammed Zeidoun, in his 30s, has "very serious burns to his upper body and a 50% chance of surviving," a family member told the news agency.

According to an earlier report by online Moroccan newspaper Goud, two of the men sustained second-degree burns and were to be transfered to a burn clinic in Casablanca, 50 miles south of Rabat. A third protester received minor burns. The newspaper said the men had been staging a sit-in at the Ministry for National Education in Rabat for the last 12 days.

All of them were reportedly members of the "unemployed graduates" movement, a coalition made up of associations across Morocco. The movement reportedly has millions of university graduates in need of jobs.

When security forces prevented supporters from bringing food to the protesters, five men out of about 160 protesters camped in an administration building of the ministry went outside to get food. They threatened to set themselves on fire if they were hindered, reported the Associated Press.

Morocco reportedly has a national unemployment rate of 9.1% but youth unemployment is significantly higher at 31%. The North African country also suffers from wide disparities in wealth.

Following the Tunisian revolt, pro-democracy protests erupted in Morocco in February, a country which has been ruled for more than a decade by King Mohammed VI.

In a bid to stem unrest, the king ceded some powers, proposing a new constitution with reforms and that elections to be held. But some activists remain skeptical and argue that the king retains ultimate power on political and economic issues.

On Thursday, Moroccan Prime Minister Abdelilah Benkirane reportedly told Parliament that unemployment will decrease to 8% and inflation reduced due to 5.5% growth that Morocco expects over the coming four years.

[shoottokill]

unemployed graduates set themselves on fire in protest so ....they can get hired after receiving severe burns to their body, thus get hospitalized, get rehabbing etc? chances are you'll be much less likely to get hired after doing that dumbass move.

nice post

[durt]

that's a hell of a way to add to your resume for a fireman's job?

[Sharon]

The unemployment statistics here in London are enough to make anyone burn themselves

Well, not really, but it pisses us off.

[imbok]

Well that pretty much proves nothing.

[lboftheyear]

Originally Posted by Sharon. ↗

The unemployment statistics here in London are enough to make anyone burn themselves

Well, not really, but it pisses us off.

Think it's bad there? Where I live the unemployment rate is 12%. I've been unemployed for an entire year and just now got a job waiting tables. I've been fixing electronics/doing odd jobs/ living off college overage checks since then. Have I thought about suicide? Yes, but shit will get better with time. Just take the cards your dealt, and hope its enough until the world digs itself out of the grave its been digging for the past 20 years. My thoughts? Pull the US troops out of Iraq/Afghanistan/libya, and invade Saudi Arabia. Distribute oil evenly and not rim our pockets with it like the fuckers driving Ferrari's there.

Nuff said.

[corpsehands]

should have let them burn

[ali_ihsan21]

Burning yourself for not having job is like setting on a car fire because of a flat tyre.

[DanteAntonelli]

It's only logical! If you have so many problems due to not having a job, then why not set yourself afire and have third degree burns over more than 80% of your body adding even more problems to your already troubled life, just think, (in case you are able to survive that is) about those nice skin scrapping and brushing sessions to remove the charred skin to let the underlying tissue grow in a less wrinkled fashion, think about the unbelievable amounts of pain you would have to endure for countless times, ain't that nice, just writing this makes me want to do it too, after not having a job what a person should do? It's only logical....

[johnleeknoefler]

Actually the protest was going normally and the police stopped them from getting food. Go for a few days without food. See how you feel. Some people don't think clearly on an empty stomach. Still it would of been better to arm themselves and kill the police then take the bread.