Situation in Tindouf camps in Algeria contradicts UNHCR’s general mandate

Morocco’s permanent mission pointed out during the 75th session of the Executive Committee of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, which concluded its works in Geneva on Friday, that the situation in Tindouf camps in Algeria contradicts the UNHCR’s general mandate.

The mission, while reiterating its commitment to the noble humanitarian mandate entrusted to this UN agency, nonetheless drew the Executive Committee’s attention to the UNHCR’s renunciation of the fundamental principles of its general mandate to protect the populations sequestered in the Tindouf camps in Algeria.

Actually, in view of the numerous abuses noted in connection with the UNHCR, Morocco has repeatedly called on it to show discernment and take the necessary corrective measures in response to the various grievances expressed by the Kingdom.

Among these grievances, Morocco points to the UNHCR’s failure to press for the registration of the population sequestered in the Tindouf camps in Algeria, a failure which puts the UNHCR in contradiction with its general mandate.

The Kingdom also criticizes the UN agency for maintaining confusion about the accurate number of people held hostage in the Tindouf camps by publishing contradictory and artificial figures that are not the result of registration in accordance with international standards. It also criticizes the blatant facts about the embezzlement of humanitarian aid intended for these populations, as attested particularly by three international reports.

Morocco denounces the Organization’s total indifference to the fate of these populations, who are sequestered by armed militias and deprived of their most basic rights, such as freedom of movement, as well as its failure to denounce the lack of free access to the camps and the de facto transfer by Algeria of its sovereignty and its legal and humanitarian responsibilities towards the sequestered populations of the camps to an armed militia.

The Kingdom also rejects the UNHCR’s failure to denounce the enrolment of children into the armed militias of the polisario, a long-standing practice that constitutes a serious violation of the obligation to respect the humanitarian and civilian character of the camps, as well as its failure to mention the arbitrary displacements, the forced separation of families, and the insecurity and instability in these camps, which contribute to keeping these populations in a situation of extreme and constant vulnerability.

In the face of all these abuses, Morocco believes that it is now more than urgent for the international community to take all necessary measures to put an end to these violations and to guarantee the protection of the populations isolated in the Tindouf camps in Algeria and calls on the UNHCR to take full responsibility for this situation and remedy it by taking all necessary measures.

Recalling that Morocco’s commitment to asylum and refugee protection is recognized worldwide as exemplary, the Mission stressed that the Moroccan delegation was using legitimate means to make its voice heard on fundamental principles and to ensure that these requests, which are legally justified and reflect reality, are irrevocably taken into account.
During the session, the UNHCR’s 2025 budget was adopted, for the first time in 75 years, by vote at Morocco’s request.

Although it requested a vote for the budget adoption, the Moroccan delegation finally voted by abstention so as not to block the noble humanitarian mission of the UNHCR.