UNHCR, Morocco, and the Tindouf Camps: A Comedy of Errors
Well folks, gather ‘round! We’ve got our hands on an article so juicy that it could be squeezed for the best narrative of human rights discussion since the invention of the pencil! Yes, that’s right, it’s the tale of Morocco calling out the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) for playing a bit of hardball with some rather sensitive humanitarian issues. And wouldn’t you know it, this is the first time in 75 years they’ve decided to adopt an annual budget by vote — no more “let’s put it to a dance-off” approach. Absolutely revolutionary!
Refugees? What refugees?
Morocco steps up and says, “Hey UNHCR! You’re not doing a great job at protecting the folks stuck in the Tindouf camps in Algeria. Want to step it up a notch?” Picture it: a high-stakes poker game where Morocco’s just gone all in, calling the UNHCR’s bluff while everyone else just looks confused, wondering if it’s time to fold. Every time Morocco raises a point, the UNHCR appears to be busy shuffling its papers. Talk about indifference; they’re moving like a sloth on a lazy Sunday!
Morocco is looking at things through a magnifying glass and saying, “Look here! You haven’t even registered these poor souls! Isn’t that your job?” It’s quite like expecting your dog to fetch a stick and it just stares at you like you’re the crazy one. Come on, UNHCR, roll up those sleeves and get to work!
Numbers Game Gone Wrong
Next up in the Moroccan complaint department: contradictory numbers floating around like they’ve been thrown from a hyperactive math magician’s hat. Are there refugees? How many? What’s the count?! It’s like a badly written sitcom where everyone’s lying about who’s on the guest list. “Oh, I didn’t see you there at the party, buddy!” Oh, and let’s not forget the allegations of humanitarian aid being misappropriated. You’d think they were running a black-market biscuit operation the way things are going!
The Call for Action
Morocco, with all the flair of a seasoned performer, has concluded that the international community needs to snap out of its slumber and take the situation seriously. They even abstained from voting on the budget so as not to block the UNHCR’s noble humanitarian mission — true diplomatic acrobatics! It’s like saying, “I’ll stay silent but don’t you dare think I’m ok with the state of things!” Bravo!
The icing on the cake? Allegations regarding child recruitment into armed militias. This isn’t a CCTV scandal; it’s a chilling reality! You’d think the UNHCR, with its immense resources, would be all over that like a dog on a bone. Yet… silence. Perhaps they were busy coordinating office yoga sessions instead?
In Summary
This piece showcases Morocco’s very public, and quite uproarious, venting session directed at the UNHCR. The whole affair is a reminder that while humanitarian missions come with high ideals, sometimes the reality resembles more of a slapstick comedy. Each grievance raised only adds fuel to the fire, making this a dramatic, if not slightly ridiculous, perfomance on the global stage.
So, dear readers, next time you think your issues are monumental, just remember: while Morocco is playing chess with the UN, we’re just trying to figure out how to play checkers without flipping the board over! Keep an eye peeled, and don’t let this drama go unnoticed!
For the first time in 75 years, the 2025 annual budget of the Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) was adopted by vote, at the request of Morocco, during the work of the 75th session of the Executive Committee of the organization which ended Friday in Geneva.
While reiterating its commitment to supporting the noble humanitarian mandate entrusted to this UN agency, the Permanent Mission of Morocco, however, wanted, through this approach, to draw the attention of the Executive Committee to the renunciation by the UNHCR of the fundamental principles of its general mandate to protect populations sequestered in the Tindouf camps, in Algeria.
Indeed, and faced with the numerous abuses observed regarding the UNHCR, Morocco has called on it on several occasions to show discernment and to take the necessary corrective measures in the face of the various grievances expressed by the Kingdom.
Among these grievances, Morocco points to the UNHCR’s refusal to advocate for the registration of the population sequestered in the Tindouf camps in Algeria, a renunciation which puts the UNHCR in contradiction with its general mandate.
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The Kingdom also criticizes the maintenance of confusion by the UN agency on the real number of populations sequestered in the Tindouf camps, by each time publishing contradictory artificial figures, which are not the result of registration in accordance with the international standards; as well as the consolidation of the facts of misappropriation of humanitarian aid intended for these populations, attested in particular in three international reports.
Furthermore, Morocco denounces the organization’s total indifference to the fate of these populations sequestered by armed militias, and deprived of their most basic rights such as freedom of movement; as well as its abstention from denouncing the absence of free access to the camps, and the devolution, de facto, by Algeria of its sovereignty and its legal and humanitarian responsibilities towards the populations sequestered in the camps to an armed militia.
The Kingdom also rejects the UNHCR’s failure to denounce, to date, the recruitment of children into the armed militias of the ‘Polisario’, a long-standing practice which constitutes a serious violation of the obligation to respect the humanitarian and civilian character of the camps; as well as the ignoring of arbitrary displacements, forced separation of families, insecurity and instability in these camps, which contribute to keeping these populations in a situation of extreme and constant vulnerability.
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Taking into account all these grievances, Morocco considers that it is, today, more than urgent that the international community take all necessary measures to put an end to these violations and guarantee the protection of the populations sequestered in the Tindouf camps, in Algeria.
In its call for the vote, the Permanent Mission of Morocco called on the UNHCR to assume full responsibility for this situation, which it is responsible for correcting by taking all necessary measures.
She recalled that Morocco’s commitment to asylum and refugee protection policy is recognized globally in its exemplary nature, stressing that when it comes to fundamental principles, the Moroccan delegation uses legitimate means to make its voice heard and so that these legally justified and reality-reflecting requests are irremediably taken into account.
Although at the origin of the call for a vote, the Moroccan delegation ultimately voted by abstention, in order not to block the noble humanitarian mission assigned to the UNHCR.
With MAP
