CCDH Receives High Commissioner for Refugees

The President of the Advisory Council on Human Rights (CCDH), Mr. Ahmed Herzenni, received on Thursday, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (HCR), Mr. Antonio Gutierrez, in visit to Morocco from September 10-13, 2009.

Mr. Herzenni said that Morocco had made tremendous effort to live up to its obligations. It ratified the International Convention relating to the Status of Refugees on November 7, 1956 and the 1967 Protocol related to the Status of Refugees on April 20, 1971. He highlighted that Morocco was facing several challenges that should be dealt with in cooperation with the national and international partners concerned.

The CCDH President stressed the need to have exact data and information on refugees for a better knowledge of their needs and conditions, saying that there was an ambiguity between the state of refugee and that of immigrant (for economic reasons mainly), which should be removed. He said that it was important to set up a government body in charge of examining the refugees’ complaints, identifying the state of refugee on the basis of clear standards and providing the opportunity to challenge its decisions.

The challenges that should be raised in this field, according to Mr. Herzenni, are the need to improve the legal and institutional framework, to make it compatible with the relevant international human rights standards, while taking into account the Moroccan particularity, the geopolitical context and the economic potentials of morocco.

Regarding the role that should be played by civil society in enhancing the protection of refugees, Mr. Herzenni said that NGOs dealing with issues of refugees should be encouraged, and their capacities should be strengthened through training programs.

Given that the protection of refuges is part of a global framework entailing the responsibility and cooperation of the countries of origin, the countries of transit and the host countries, it was urgent, according to Mr. Herzenni, that the international community adopted appropriate measures and mechanisms to strengthen the international solidarity, so that the responsibility of protecting and assisting the refugees was shared equally between the North and the South.

The meeting was an opportunity for Mr. Herzenni to draw the attention to the dramatic situation of the Moroccan citizens sequestered in Tindouf Camps. He stressed that the host country should fulfill its duties towards them, saying that the fact that the Tindouf Camps inhabitants are still sequestered and used as means of pressure was a blatant violation of the international humanitarian and human rights laws.

He said that human rights are still violated within the camps because of the status of sequestration, isolation and ambiguity about their legal status, not to mention the miserable situation of children and women there.

Mr. Herzenni said that the inhabitants within the camps should be registered, a census should be conducted and the UNOHCR should be allowed to take this census on the basis of internationally recognized standards.