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Algerian Discontent from Moroccan Accusations | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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Indigenous Sahrawi girls play near their tent in a refugee camp of Al Smara in Tindouf, southern Algeria March 2, 2016. REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra


Algeria – The Algerian government has expressed discontent from the Moroccan accusations on manipulating the agony of Syrian refugees who have come to Algeria from Morocco in the past days through the borders closed since 23 years.

A communique for the Algerian Foreign Ministry revealed that the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Morocco was received on Sunday to express for him rejection of the Moroccan allegations that Algeria was responsible for an alleged attempt by Syrian nationals who tried to enter Moroccan territory illegally from Algerian territory.

The Algerian Foreign Ministry said in Sunday’s communique that the allegations were “baseless and only intend to damage Algeria’s image,” and that these “practices are foreign to Algeria’s morality and well-established traditions of hospitality.”

The communique added that the Moroccan party was notified that the specialized Algerian authorities noticed on April 19 at 3:55 am an attempt to kick out around 13 people towards Algeria.

“To these unilateral actions concerning citizens likely to be of Syrian nationality, there are recurrently similar illegal acts affecting nationals of Sub-Saharan countries, who are frequently the object of illegal transfers to the Algerian territory,” the statement added.

There are currently around 40,000 Syrian nationals settled in Algeria “to whom all the facilities have been granted”, the ministry said.

It added, “The unrestrained media campaigns directed against Algeria and its senior officials fall under a strategy of tension that is at the opposite of the requirements of good neighborliness between the two countries.”