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Rabat – Algerian activists announced their decision to hold a peaceful sit-in at the Colonel Lotfi Border post on August 13. The gathering will serve as an opportunity for Algerian activists to urge both the Moroccan and Algerian governments to reopen the border between the countries.
Mes Opinion published a statement from the Algerian committee for the opening of the Algerian-Moroccan land border, which called for a symbolic and peaceful gathering to allow people from both countries the right to freedom of movement.
The statement said that people have long been patient “waiting for the opening of the land border.” The statement said that the decision seeks to end the suffering of the people, who have been facing this “abnormal situation” for too long.
Read Also: Algerian ‘Sovereign’ Authority to Open Study into Reopening Land Borders with Morocco
This is not the first time that a campaign has emerged asking both governments to reopen the border, which has been closed since 1994.
Throughout the 2019 African Cup of Nations, Moroccan football fans have been celebrating Algeria’s wins during the competition. Algerians and Moroccans also celebrated the Algeria’s victory in the final of CAN at the border.
Over the past two years, Morocco has taken positive steps towards reconciliation, asking for Algeria to engage in a frank and direct dialogue to end the stalemate between the two neighbors.
Last year in November, King Mohammed VI made a dialogue offer to Algeria in order to revive bonds between the two countries. The King also described the diplomatic ties between Morocco and Algeria as “not normal” and “much less than acceptable.”
The King renewed his call in a speech on the eve of the Throne Day, saying that Morocco’s will continue its commitment to the “policy of the outstretched hand towards our Algerian brothers, out of loyalty to the bonds of rooted in brotherhood, religion, language, and good-neighborliness that have always existed between the peoples of the two sister nations.”
On August 3, Independent Arabia quoted a source who said that an “Algerian sovereign authority” is consulting with academies on the reopening of closed land border with Morocco. The authority ordered a study to discuss the “most effective way to open land border.”
