New Report Documents Abuse of Sahrawi Refugees' Rights in Algeria Camps

Forgotten or Forsaken? UN refugee chief says international community needs to
"wake up" to plight of refugeesstranded in desert for decades in "precarious
conditions"

WASHINGTON, Oct. 8 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Only weeks after news reports
citing the UN's refugee chief saying tens of thousands of refugees had been
"forgotten" in remote desert camps in Algeria, a new study, "Group Rights &
International Law: Case Study of the Sahrawi Refugees in Algeria," published
by the Inter-University Center for Legal Studies located at the International
Law Institute tells the disturbing story of why. The study documents a
serious human rights and humanitarian crisis resulting from more than three
decades of warehousing of Sahrawi refugees confined to desert camps near
Tindouf, in southwestern Algeria, where their legal rights and freedoms have
been "routinely" violated, humanitarian aid hijacked, families split, and
futures denied with no end in sight to serve a failed political agenda.

Perhaps most troubling, the study finds that both the UN High Commissioner for
Refugees (UNHCR) and relief agencies established to protect refugee rights
have ignored the situation in the Algerian camps and perpetuated the abuse of
the refugees' rights under international law.

"I recognize that not enough has been done and that the international
community should wake up. . . we have to work more and better," acknowledged
Antonio Guterres on Sept. 10, making the first visit by a UNHCR head to the
camps in Tindouf, Algeria since 1976. "These refugees are living for tens of
years in precarious conditions."

"The International Law Institute believes the situation of the Sahrawi
refugees in Algeria, and their rights under international law, is in urgent
need of consideration by the rest of the world," said Don Wallace, Jr.,
Chairman, International Law Institute in a preface to the report. "It is our
hope this report will prompt concerted action among all nations and
stakeholders involved, together with the UN and other international
organizations, to resolve the decades-old situation of the Sahrawi refugees,
and improve their circumstances through instruments of international law."

Key Findings & Recommendations: Refugee Rights Under International
Law/Respect for Sahrawi Rights

The report examines the role international law can play in helping refugees
regain their freedom and makes specific recommendations to improve their lives
and protect their rights. Among its key findings:

-- Refugee Rights Routinely Violated -- "Sahrawi refugees have
substantial
rights under international law that are either routinely violated or
routinely ignored by the Polisario Front, Algeria, and UNHCR," the
report says. Among these are: the right to be documented, the right
to
freedom of movement and employment, the right to adequate health care
and education, and the right to access legal protections in the host
country's judicial system.
-- Freedom of Movement Denied -- "Despite Polisario claims to the
contrary,
Sahrawi refugees' freedom of movement is severely restricted," the
report says. "In 2003, Amnesty International expressed grave concern
about the denial of the refugees' right to freedom of movement by
Algerian and Polisario authorities," an issue also confirmed in the
2008
World Refugee Report of the United States Committee for Refugees and
Immigrants.
-- UNHCR Failed to Protect Refugee Rights, Prevent Hijacking of
Humanitarian Aid -- The report points to various official UN agency
reports and findings of independent relief organizations documenting
systematic theft of humanitarian aid intended for the refugees but
instead sold on black markets in the region for personal profit.

-- Imperative Refugee Rights be Respected, Warehousing Ended -- "Over the
past 30 years, facts and realities on the ground have changed, while
UNHCR's and Algeria's policies on refugees have not. The
international
system has done little to protect these warehoused refugees' rights in
what has become one of the longest encamped refugee situations in the
world. It is legally, morally, and financially imperative Sahrawi
refugees in Algeria be granted all their rights under international
law
so they don't stay warehoused another 30 years," the report concludes.

Recommended specific steps for UNHCR and interested states to protect refugee
rights and improve their lives include:

1. Conduct a census of the camp population and document the refugees,
2. Establish an intimidation-free voluntary repatriation program in the
camps, and

3. Ensure a permanent international NGO presence in the camps to monitor
distribution of humanitarian aid.

"The freedom and rights of the Sahrawi refugees have been denied and their
futures stolen," saidRobert M. Holley, Executive Director, Moroccan American
Center for Policy, which authored the report in cooperation with the IUCLS.
"Thirty years is long enough. We need to open the camps and help these people
take back their future. We should help refugees rebuild their lives, not make
being a refugee a way of life."

* For a Copy of the Full Report, Go To: Case Study of Sahrawi Refugees in
Algeria.pdf

Inter-University Center for Legal Studies: In 1997, the Inter-University
Center for Legal Studies was established to contribute to the global effort to
deal with the broad range of topics including: human rights, ethnic, racial,
and religious intolerance and violence, terrorism and war crimes. The purpose
of the IUCLS is to focus on the relationship between the rule of law and
various issues, monitor current and future threats to peace and security,
develop response strategies, and keep effective communication between many
organizations. IUCLS is a consortium of universities and has a presence as a
think tank in over 35 countries. For more, please visit www.ili.org/IUCLS.

The Moroccan American Center for Policy (MACP) is a non-profit organization
whose principal mission is to inform opinion makers, government officials and
interested publics in the United States about political and social
developments in Morocco and the role being played by the Kingdom of Morocco in
broader strategic developments in North Africa, the Mediterranean, and the
Middle East. For more, please visit www.moroccanamericanpolicy.org.

This material is distributed by the Moroccan American Center for Policy and
Beckerman Public Relations on behalf of the Government of Morocco. Additional
information is available at the Department of Justice in Washington, DC.

SOURCE Moroccan American Center for Policy

Angelene Taccini, +1-201-465-8024, ataccini@beckermanpr.com, for Moroccan
American Center for Policy; or Garth Neuffer of Moroccan American Center for
Policy, +1-202-470-2055, gneuffer@moroccanamericancenter.com