Algeria Receives 50 Syrian Refugees Left Woefully By Rabat in The Lurch

Out of humanitarian considerations, Algeria has welcomed the arrival of a number of Syrian refugees from the Moroccan region of Figuig, after Rabat refused to receive them, by leaving them in a woeful situation since April 17th and these 50 refugees will be now added to the 40 thousand Syrians now residing in Algeria since the beginning of the refugee crisis in 2011.

According to a statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Hamdi Boukhari, was received at the Ministry’s headquarters on Thursday and was informed of the decision taken by the highest authorities in the country to receive and for “humanitarian reasons” the Syrian refugees, including children and pregnant women.

The statement added that with this humanitarian attention from Algeria, these Syrian citizens will be able to stay in Algerian territory and will be provided with decent housing and necessary humanitarian care.

The services of foreign affairs Minister Abdelkader Messahel stressed that Algeria’s position during the holy month of fasting of Ramadan is in line with the humanitarian commitments made by Algeria towards the brotherly Syrian people. 

Since the outbreak of the refugee crisis, Algeria has hosted more than 40,000 refugees who have received many social benefits, including residence, freedom of movement, as well as medical care, housing and commercial activities.

Since the beginning of the 50-member Syrian refugee crisis in mid-April, the Moroccan authorities have tried to shirk their bounden humanitarian duties and to charge Algeria with the claim that Algeria expelled them to Moroccan soil, a lame assertion which was later belied by Moroccan human rights organizations as well as by the Algerian side with tangible evidence.

Last week, the non-governmental human rights Organization “Human Rights Watch” confirmed that Morocco had clearly breached its international obligations towards Syrian refugees after the expulsion of about 50 Syrian refugees from its territory in April.

“Expelling asylum seekers from one’s territory without granting them the possibility of requesting refugee status is a breach of their international obligations,” Human Rights Watch said in a statement.

“These decisions violate Article 29 of Moroccan Law No. 02-03, which includes the entry and residence of foreigners in Morocco, and also prohibits the expulsion of pregnant women,” the Washington-based Organization underscored.

The Organization also confirmed that two women among the women expelled by Morocco have been pregnant for several months, one of whom delivered her baby on 23 April in appalling conditions in the border region near the Moroccan locality of Feguig.