Morocco slams Algeria for expelling 55 Syrian refugees

Morocco yesterday summoned the Algerian ambassador to Rabat to express its worry about Algeria’s attempt to expel 55 Syrian who “illegally” entered the country, the Safa news agency reported.

In a statement, the Moroccan foreign ministry said that 55 Syrians tried to enter Morocco from Algerian between 17-19 April near the desert town of Figuig after Algerian authorities forced them out.

Rabat condemned its neighbour’s “inhumane behaviour” towards the migrants who included “women and children in a very vulnerable situation”.

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“Algeria has to bear the political and moral responsibility for this situation,” the statement, which was published by the Moroccan news agency.

The statement accused Algeria of “exploiting the financial and psychological crises of these people to create chaos on the Moroccan-Algerian borders.”

Morocco said it had accepted 5,000 Syrian refugees.