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Morocco: Stranded Syrians can enter country through official channels

May 12, 2017 at 11:20 am

Syrian refugees in Morocco hold up a banner asking for basic rights including access to medical care and aid on 12 May, 2017 [Masr Al-Arabiya]

Morocco will accept the 55 Syrian refugees who are stranded on its border with Algeria if they came to the country through official diplomatic channels, a senior minister said.

The refugees have to go either through the Tunisian embassy or any other embassy in another country, and then we will process their case files in accordance with the immigration and asylum laws

the Minister in charge of Moroccans Residing Abroad and Migration Affairs, Abdelkrim Benatiq, said.

“If we allow the flow of illegal immigrants across the Moroccan-Algerian border which stretches over 1,560 kilometres, this will not be in the interest of any party,” he said. “If some Syrian brothers already have families in Morocco, we have no objection to receiving them. They only have to pass through regular diplomatic channels.”

Read: Morocco should take in stranded Syrian refugees

Earlier this month, the Moroccan interior ministry accused the Algerian interior ministry of “besieging Syrian migrants in inhumane conditions” near the border between the two countries.

In response, Algerian Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Ramtane Lamamra, called on Morocco not to use the tragedy of the Syrian refugees to his benefit.