MOROCCO:
African Refugees Targeted
Daan Bauwens
RABAT, Jun 23 (IPS) - More than 300 African refugees are gathered at the gates of the Moroccan
United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), asking to be moved to another country
because their rights are not respected in Morocco. Several refugees say they
have been beaten up by Moroccan UN personnel.
On Tuesday morning, the refugees who are from Angola, Senegal, the
Democratic Republic of Congo, Cote d'Ivoire, Liberia and some other
countries, entered their ninth day of protest in front of the Moroccan office of
the UNHCR in capital Rabat. Their numbers are steadily growing.
"We intend to stay here until our right to reinstallation is respected," says
Stéphane Gnako, spokesperson for the refugees. "We demand to be moved to
a safe place where we are treated with dignity."
According to the UN charter, every refugee has the right to be moved to
another country if his or her rights are not respected in the country where
they received asylum.
Many refugees in Morocco say they are caught in a trap. "Even though we are
recognised by the UN as refugees, the Moroccan government does not want
to grant us our rights," Laura Thérèse from Cote d'Ivoire, who has been living
in Morocco since 2004 tells IPS. "I've studied in this country, I have done an
internship of three months, only to realise afterwards that I didn't have the
right to work."
African refugees' children have no right to education. "We have no right to
integrate, no right to work, and no right to reinstall, so what are we supposed
to do?" Laura Thérèse adds.
Stéphane Gnako holds up his refugee card. "It's a beautiful thing, not? But it
is of no use to us. It is the responsibility of the UNHCR to see to it that our
rights are respected, but all of us are condemned to a life as beggars in this
country.
"Moreover, we are the victim of racial discrimination and violence, there is no
chance for integration." According to a Congolese woman in the group,
stones are thrown at her sometimes when she is walking down the street with
her children. Several others report random assault.
Michael McCullough, a refugee from Liberia, says refugees are also attacked
by officials. "We are chased by the police because we hold no documents. And
we frequently get beaten up by them. Moreover, people who ask for
reinstallation are beaten up by the guards at the UNHCR office."
Several refugees speak of mistreatment by UNHCR security guards if they
insist on reinstallation.
On Monday evening, a group of 40 musicians, dancers and actors took to the
streets of the Yacoub Mansour neighbourhood of Rabat in a colourful march.
This was a part of 'Rabat Africa', a festival that aims for the integration of
African refugees into Moroccan society. The festival was organised by UNHCR
and the Orient-Occident Foundation, an international network of socio-
educational agencies for immigrants and Moroccans in impoverished
neighbourhoods.
"This is the only Moroccan festival with a political message," says Rachid
Badouli, development and strategy director at the Orient-Occident
Foundation. "It is only by means of culture that we can fight the racism
African immigrants face. At this festival, we see Moroccan families next to
Congolese, Kenyan or Angolese families," he tells IPS.
The festival is organised in the Yacoub Mansour neighbourhood because this
is where African immigrants regularly suffer from violence, in some cases
sexual violence. Last year, three refugee boys under 18 were subject to rape.
"We ourselves are immigrants in Europe," Badouli tells IPS. "There are lots of
reports about racism on the streets of Brussels or Paris, while we treat our
own immigrants no better. This is also a critique against the Moroccan state,
that still doesn't want to open its gates to whatever is new or different."
The protesters at the UNHCR office are not joining the Rabat Africa festival.
'The festival is sabotaging our protest," says Stéphane Gnako. "We don't want
to be manipulated into African merchandising. It's not by chanting, dancing,
tam tam and other clichés that we will improve our conditions; that is mere
absurdity. Is showing African culture going to save us from violence, racism
and arrests? The answer is no." (END/2009)
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