Sunday, December 18, 2022 at 04:07 PM
Rabat – The International Collective in Support of Families of Moroccan Origin Expelled from Algeria-1975 (CiMRA75) has renewed its request to all bodies and organizations as well as to national and international forces driven by the principles and values peace and justice, to “put pressure on the Algerian authorities to recognize the violations suffered by these citizens, remind them of their clear responsibilities in the tragedy they are living through, and compensate them for the damage they have suffered ”.
On the eve of this painful anniversary, the International Collective once again condemns the decision of the Algerian authorities to expel thousands of Moroccan citizens residing legally on Algerian territory.
“The individuals concerned by the expulsion decision and the beneficiaries are still wondering about the facts that led to this human tragedy, the wounds of which have not yet healed despite the passage of 47 years,” said the Collective in a press release made public on the occasion of the 47th anniversary of the arbitrary expulsion of thousands of Moroccan citizens residing legally on Algerian territory.
At the national level, CiMRA75 called for “the creation of a parliamentary commission of inquiry around this file as promised by all the parliamentary groups that have been contacted on this subject”, while welcoming and expressing its support for this initiative. citizen.
The International Collective and the Moroccan Organization for Human Rights had presented a memorandum for the creation of a parliamentary commission to investigate the tragedy of Moroccans arbitrarily expelled from Algeria, and without prior warning, according to the same source.
This initiative, which is part of the activation of the partnership and cooperation agreement concluded between the International Collective and the Moroccan Organization for Human Rights, aims to obtain the contribution of the legislative institution to document this tragedy and the guarantee of the victims’ rights to compensation for the moral and material damage they have suffered and continue to suffer from the Algerian government, “solely responsible for this tragedy and which continues to mislead the public opinion, to hide this drama and to ignore the legal presence of these Moroccan citizens over several decades, and on the constitution of a large number of mixed Algerian-Moroccan families”, explains the press release, recalling that many of they took up arms during the war of liberation against French colonialism.
The creation of a parliamentary commission of inquiry into the file of Moroccans expelled from Algeria is “of great importance”, especially for documentation by a respectable constitutional institution. This initiative of the legislative body will have a decisive value in restoring respect for the dignity of thousands of Moroccans, raising the weight of the responsibility of Algeria entrusted to it, and shedding light on the tragedy and the collection of data in possession from various public interest services and organizations, but also from natural and legal persons, continued the Collective.
The creation of a parliamentary committee around this file constitutes a contribution to the preservation of the memory of the direct and indirect victims, while exploring all the possibilities to rehabilitate them, help them to access all possible remedies, and to prepare a reference document, which will be the first of its kind published by a constitutional institution, and which contains all the specifications to support the efforts of victims in their advocacy at the international level, the press release added.
The Collective also pointed out that this expulsion coincided with the same moment when the Muslim world was preparing to celebrate the ritual of Eid al-Adha: the Algerian authorities expelled from the morning of December 8, 1975 about 45,000 Moroccans , including women, children and the elderly, although these arbitrarily expelled Moroccan families have been legally settled in Algeria since the 19th century. Thus, a large number of them had taken part in the Algerian war of liberation which broke out in November 1954, during which hundreds of Moroccans were killed on the field of honour.
As an independent civil society organization, the International Collective in Support of Families of Moroccan Origin Expelled from Algeria, which was created on February 21, 2021, brings together direct and indirect victims, men and women human rights defenders Rights, in particular Moroccans around the world who are victims of this situation and with the support of Moroccan human rights activists, for this file.
The Collective will continue the broadest mobilization to achieve its objectives and translate them into a work program, by carrying out awareness-raising actions and advocacy activities at the national and international levels so that this file is not forgotten and does not remain open. without solution, concludes the same source.