Morocco Raises Alarm Over Militarization of Tindouf Refugee Camps at UN Meeting

It was during a meeting on the "update of UNHCR operations in the Middle East and North Africa" that Omar Zinber "denounced, once again, the militarization of the Tindouf camps, in violation of the conclusions of this committee stipulating that host countries assume responsibility for ensuring the civilian and humanitarian character of asylum." The Moroccan diplomat also noted Algeria’s inability to provide the exact number of the population held in the camps. According to him, "the representative of the host country persists in putting forward random, fictitious and inflated figures, which are moreover politically motivated and in contradiction with the humanitarian nature of the discussions within the Standing Committee".

That is why Morocco believes that "the only figures to be considered will come from the formal registration of this population according to the standards and criteria established by UNHCR thanks to its long experience and established practice in this field." Consequently, he added, "Morocco renews its calls to UNHCR to proceed with the registration of this population, in accordance with its mandate and in accordance with the relevant Security Council resolutions, taking into account the fact that registration improves the integrity of UNHCR operations by reducing the risk of fraud and diversion."

Omar Zniber also mentioned Morocco’s efforts in terms of migration management. He did not overlook the significant efforts made in terms of dismantling migrant trafficking networks and aborting irregular migration attempts, as well as actions in favor of the search and rescue of migrants in distress at sea.

These results, he assures, "demonstrate Morocco’s major contribution in terms of regional security, as it assumes full responsibility for the management of solidarity migrations and works with its partners to concretely anchor the principle of shared responsibility".