CIEMA Urges Algeria to Acknowledge Expulsion of Moroccans in 1975

Rabat – The International Collective in Support of Families of Moroccan Families from Algeria (CIEMA) called on Algeria to acknowledge the 1975 expulsion of Moroccans from Algeria.

In a statement signed by the president of the international collective Mohammed Cherfaoui, CIEMA stressed that although 46 years have passed, the tragedy must be earnestly recalled as a duty of remembrance.

On December 8, 1975, the Algerian government began expelling over 45,000 Moroccan citizens who were legally established in Algeria for decades. Cherfaoui recalled that the expulsion took place around Eid Al Adha, a sacred holiday in the Muslim calender.

The tragedy happened in the aftermath of the Green March, a memorable event in Morocco’s history when 350,000 unarmed Moroccans marched into the Sahara desert on November 6, 1975 to protest Spain’s occupation of the Western Sahara region.

“Thousands of Moroccans found themselves either with family members who offered them shelter in solidarity, or in tents hastily set up by Moroccan authorities,” he added.

The collective underlined that expelled families were deprived as all their property remained on the other side of the borders, in Algeria, “a country to which they gave a lot of love and to which they showed solidarity during hardships to gain independence.”

CIEMA also called to pay tribute to the Moroccan citizens “who have been stripped, beyond their material possessions, their human dignity.”

“A sustained tribute must be paid to associations that have largely fought with limited financial and human resources to shed light on this part of history that was plunged nationally and internationally,” noted the collective in a statement.

The collective urged to consider the moral and material damage of the tragedy, calling for the opening of the borders between the two countries allowing families to reunite.

CIEMA welcomed the active collaboration with Morocco’s Organization of Human Rights (OMDH), and called on all civil society organizations to participate in paying tribute to victims whose human rights were snatched during the expulsion.

Relations between Morocco and Algeria soured in the years leading up to the 1963 Sand War, leading to Algeria financing the Polisario Front, which initially called for an end to the Spanish presence in the Sahara but has since become an Algerian proxy militia targeting Morocco.

In August, Algeria decided to sever ties with Morocco to which the latter expressed regrets over the “unjustified but expected decision,” said the Moroccan Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Since then, Algeria refuses to engage in a dialogue with Morocco, which led to the escalation of tensions in the region.