Ban Ki-moon had, in his report to the Security Council on the Moroccan Sahara last April, urged "that appropriate attention be paid to the issues of conducting a census of refugees and implementing a programme of individual interviews."

Omar Hilale, Morocco's permanent representative to the UN office at Geneva, told the 61st session of the executive committee of the HCR, the kingdom is deeply concerned over the refusal, for more than three decades, to let the HCR carry out a census of the Moroccan population detained in the camps.

He called on the HCR to intercede with Algeria, as a host country of the camps, to implement the secretary-general's recommendation, adding that Morocco closely follows the UNHCR's steps in this regard.

Hilale insisted that this call, made by the highest authority of the UN, consolidates the legitimacy and soundness of the Moroccan position with regard to conducting a census of the camps’ population.

The diplomat pointed out that Algeria has a political and moral obligation to comply with Ban Ki-moon’s call and to cooperate with the HCR to conduct the census in keeping with international law on refugees and its status as a host country of this population.


Source: MAP
News and events concerning Western Sahara issue/ Corcas