Press Release Depot

WASHINGTON, June 20 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Today, the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) marks World Refugee Day 2008 and calls the international community to action on behalf of the more than 30 million refugees dispersed in conflicts across the globe. On this occasion, the US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI) released its annual report detailing the plights of these often ignored refugee communities, including the tens of thousands of Sahrawi refugees currently being held by a rebel separatist group, known as the Polisario Front, in southern Algeria.

The USCRI’s World Refugee Survey 2008 details the stifling and deteriorating conditions for the tens of thousands of Sahrawi refugees held captive by the Polisario Front with the “acquiescence of the Government of Algeria.” Specifically, the USCRI’s findings confirm past accounts by hundreds of former Sahrawi refugees that there is no freedom of movement in the tightly-controlled Polisario camps. According to the Survey, “[the] Polisario forbade return to the Moroccan-occupied Western Sahara [...] and arrested those who expressed an interest in doing so.”

The Survey also revealed that the Sahrawi refugees under Polisario control were forced to undergo military training, that unwed refugee mothers were confined to a detention center and that Polisario military officials “reportedly opened fire [...] upon at least one pair of persons attempting to cross the sand wall separating the camps from Moroccan-controlled Western Sahara.” The USCRI further highlighted the role of Algeria in this on-going humanitarian crisis, particularly its complicity in the systematic diversion of international humanitarian aid. “[Algeria's] refusal to allow a registration census prevented UNHCR from profiling the population for humanitarian and protection needs or monitoring aid distribution,” outlined the Survey.

For the complete USCRI’s World Refugee Survey 2008, please visit www.refugees.org

Earlier this month, the New York Times (”Western Sahara’s Conflict Traps Refugees in Limbo”, June 4, 2008) highlighted the testimonies of six former Sahrawi refugees who recently visited the U.S. to speak out on behalf of their family members and thousands of others still being held by the Polisario Front. (For more information about the former refugees’ visit to the U.S., please visit www.moroccanamericanpolicy.org) Their accounts, along with the extensive findings by the USCRI, underscore the urgency for the international community to call upon Algeria and the Polisario Front to open their camps and allow the refugees the choice to leave or stay.

“Refugees are not unique because they are away from home,” declared Antonio Guterres, UN High Commissioner for Refugees, on World Refugee Day 2007. “What sets them apart is that they cannot return there.”

The Moroccan American Center for Policy (MACP) is a non-profit organization whose principal mission is to inform opinion makers, government officials and an interested public 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 information, please visit www.moroccanamericanpolicy.org

SOURCE Moroccan American Center for Policy

WASHINGTON, May 12 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — This week, members and staff of the U.S. Congress met with former Sahrawi refugees who recently returned from the Polisario camps in southern Algeria. These refugees — some held in the camps their entire lives — shared eye-witness accounts of human rights abuses and the diversion of international humanitarian aid by the Polisario Front.

“We can make sure that the dollars we send are used in the way the Congress intended it to be used, making sure that the aid is going to the people and that is not being resold and making sure that the people have the freedom to leave the camps when they want to and make sure that the humanitarian conditions are as we expect in any camp around the world,” said Rep. Corrine Brown (D-FL), an active member of the Congressional Human Rights Caucus and the Caucus for Women’s Issues.

Rep. Brown pointed out that Congress can adopt resolutions and urge the United Nations to lead investigations into the conditions in the camps to make sure that the humanitarian aid reaches those it is intended to assist. This pledge to encourage oversight by the U.S. Congress was welcomed by Naba Deddah El Meki, a former Polisario humanitarian aid coordinator who shared her accounts of systematic corruption and theft with the Congresswoman.

The former Sahrawi refugees also visited the offices of Rep. Robin Hayes (R-NC), Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-CA), Rep. John Boozman (R-AR), Rep. Dale Kildee (D-MI), Rep. John Lewis (D-GA), Rep. Betty McCollum (D-MN), Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI), Rep. Robert Aderholt (R-AL), Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS), Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN), Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-MI), and Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT).

After speaking with the former Sahrawi refugees about the lack of freedom of movement in the camps Congressman Ellison said that if these conditions exist, he would do what he could.

“International pressure, particularly from the United States Congress, is the most effective tool to bring an end to the suffering of the Sahrawi refugees and their families,” said Robert Holley, Executive Director of the Moroccan American Center for Policy. “Until Algeria and the Polisario realize that the international community will no longer tolerate this shameful humanitarian crisis, the refugees will not have the choice to leave the camps.”

The Moroccan American Center for Policy (MACP) is a non-profit organization whose principal mission is to inform opinion makers, government officials and an interested public 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 information, please visit www.moroccanamericanpolicy.org

This material is distributed by DJE, Inc. and the Moroccan-American Center for Policy 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

WASHINGTON, May 8 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Refugees International (http://www.refugeesinternational.org), a U.S.- based NGO and leading advocate for refugee protection all over the world, hosted a forum yesterday to examine the plight of tens of thousands of Sahrawi refugees currently held in the Polisario controlled camps in southern Algeria. A group of former Sahrawi refugees from the Western Sahara visiting Washington, D.C. this week shared their personal stories of escape, human rights abuse, and manipulation by the Polisario Front.

One of Refugees International’s top priorities is to insure that critical humanitarian aid reaches refugee communities that are most vulnerable. Too often, as Naha Al Salek Sidi, a 27-year-old handicapped mother of two, described, much of the humanitarian assistance from international donors never reaches those in the Polisario camps. Naha, a former Sahrawi refugee who recently returned to Morocco, recounted how she was used by the Polisario to solicit medical supplies from international NGOs — yet denied a wheelchair that she desperately needed. Instead, the medical equipment and supplies intended for Naha and other handicapped Sahrawi refugees were sold in the markets of neighboring Mauritania.

Also of concern for Refugees International is the family separation resulting from the Western Sahara conflict that has separated thousands of Sahrawi refugee families for more than three decades. Al Afia Hammidi, a mother of five, was allowed recently by the Polisario Front to participate in the UNHCR Family Visit program to Morocco — after nearly four years on a waiting list. When she arrived in Morocco and decided to stay, the Polisario refused to allow her two youngest children to join her. In fact, it was not until two weeks ago, after much international pressure, that the Polisario finally allowed the children to reunite with their mother in Morocco.

Many of those who attended the forum echoed Refugee International’s call to end the current humanitarian crisis, including Dr. William Zartman, a professor at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies and an expert in conflict resolution and North African affairs.

“This morning’s session was an eye-opener, for those whose eyes need it, into life in the camps in Algeria. It showed how important it is to open up the camps to let the outside air in and the people who want it out,” said Professor Zartman at the conclusion of the forum. “The Sahara under Moroccan control is visitable and porous, and people can come in and out as they want. Let the same conditions come to pass in the camps.”

By the end of the forum, it was clear from the former refugees’ testimonies that conditions in the camps are worsening. The major obstacle to solving this on-going humanitarian crisis is the refusal of the Polisario Front and Algeria to allow the refugees the freedom to choose to leave the camps and return to Morocco if they desire.

“If the Polisario and Algeria are truly sincere about addressing human rights issues in the Sahara, they would open the refugee camps,” said Robert Holley, executive director of the Moroccan American Center for Policy. “Providing freedom of movement would allow the refugees to decide on their own whether they want to leave the camps or stay.”

The Moroccan American Center for Policy (MACP) is a non-profit organization whose principal mission is to inform opinion makers, government officials and an interested public 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 information, please visit www.moroccanamericanpolicy.org

This material is distributed by DJE, Inc. and the Moroccan-American Center for Policy 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

DEARBORN, Mich., May 7 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Hon. Chakib Khelil,
Algeria’s Minister of Energy and Mining, and the current President of OPEC,
will be among the attendees at this week’s U.S.-Arab Economic Forum.

Minister Khelil comes with a wealth of international experience. Besides
serving as the President of OPEC, the Minister manages and oversees Algeria’s
energy and mining sectors, concentrating on ensuring efficient oil and gas
production, as well as improving mining opportunities across Algeria. As a
former energy specialist with the World Bank, he has reformed much of the oil
industries in the developing world for over two decades.

“Minister Khelil’s attendance at the Forum is a clear sign of how Algeria
and the U.S. are able to build camaraderie and reciprocal trade, which is
central to our Forum’s theme, which focuses on how the U.S. and the Arab world
can work together,” said Mr. Nasser Beydoun, COO and Co-Founder of the USAEF.

Given Algeria’s leadership within OPEC, and the burgeoning friendship
between the U.S. and Algeria, Honorable Khelil’s presence is vital in building
greater bilateral relations with America, and in displaying its current
relationship among other Arab states.

Mr. Ahmad Chebbani, the CEO and Chairman of the USAEF stated that, “With
Minister Khelil as an attendee, many international leaders will look at how
Algeria has built its close relationship with the U.S.”

The Algerian government is a strategic political ally of the U.S. in
Africa, and a growing trade partner. Nearly $18 billion of goods were traded
between Algeria and the U.S. in 2007 alone. Currently Algeria is on its way to
develop a diversified economy, while building a strong partnership with the
U.S.

“In addition to representation from Algeria, having OPEC’s presence,
through Minister Khelil, is highly valued by the USAEF as Algeria is a key
energy supplier to the world,” said Mr. Chebbani.

Written by Aly Z. Ramji

For more information and to register to attend this year’s event, visit
the USAEF website at http://usaef.ameeac.org

SOURCE U.S.-Arab Economic Forum