VIOLENCE AT UNHCR HIGHLIGHTS MOROCCO,S REFUGEE

UNCLAS CASABLANCA 000160

SIPDIS

PASS TO NEA/MAG AND PRM/AFR

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM PGOV PREF
SUBJECT: VIOLENCE AT UNHCR HIGHLIGHTS MOROCCO,S REFUGEE
DILEMMA

REF: 2008 CASABLANCA 168


1. (SBU) Moroccan police clashed with sub-Saharan
refugees after a two-week long sit-in at the United
Nations High Commissioner for Refugees' (UNHCR)
headquarters in Rabat, resulting in five arrests and
numerous injuries including a senior police officer.
The five detained refugees were initially charged
with illegal entry to Morocco and faced potential
expulsion in addition to criminal charges. Although
the refugees in the end received lenient sentences
and were not returned to their countries of origin,
UNHCR reported the incident has darkened its
relations with the Government of Morocco (GOM) and
with the refugee community. This outburst of
violence highlights the ambiguous status of refugees
in Morocco and the GOM's reluctance to deal with
asylum issues despite taking numerous positive steps
in the last few years to fulfill its international
obligations under the 1951 Refugee Convention.

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Sit-in Turns Violent
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2. (SBU) Approximately 50 refugees including women
and children staged a sit-in that began on June 15
in front of UNHCR headquarters (HQ) in Rabat to
protest the lack of resettlements to Europe and the
US. The group, which consisted largely of refugees
from Cote d'Ivoire and the Democratic Republic of
the Congo (DRC),maintained a 24 hour vigil in spite
of efforts by UN representatives and the Moroccan
security forces to resolve the stand off. In the
middle of the night on June 27, police forcibly
removed the refugees from UNHCR HQ and drove them in
vans to the neighborhoods where they live. The
refugees returned the following morning to UNHCR but
were dissuaded from continuing their protest by
threats from the police and the promise that UNHCR
representatives would continue talks with the group
soon thereafter.


3. (SBU) The subsequent July 2 meeting, held at
another UN building 100 meters from UNHCR, was brief
and ended with the refugee leaders storming out
intent on continuing their protest. According to
Johannes Van Der Klaauw, the Chief of Mission for
UNHCR, the refugees were aggressive and a melee
broke out between them and the police forces.
During this confrontation, a refugee hit a senior
police officer with a club which broke the officer's
arm, for which he received medical care and 60 days
off from work. The refugees also threw stones and
attacked the headquarters of UNHCR. During a visit
to the site of the melee, poloff saw the shattered
glass of the Director's office and destroyed
security cameras. All told, six refugees were taken
to the hospital for treatment and five were
arrested. The remaining group of refugees dispersed
and quickly moved towards the US Embassy, which is
located in close proximity. The refugees remained
outside of the Embassy for a few minutes and the
police then removed them. At the same time, a
second group began moving towards the northwestern
entrance of the Embassy. Police were quickly
dispatched to this location and dispersed the second
group of protestors. Finally, a third group formed
outside of the vehicle barrier located in the
southwest corner of the Embassy. Police responded
and dispersed this crowd, as well. One Embassy
Guard sustained minor injuries to his leg during the
encounter and no Americans or locally engaged staff
members were harmed.


4. (SBU) Criminal charges were brought against five
of the refugees for attacking a security officer,
rioting, and for illegal entry into the Kingdom. In
signed police statements, the five refugees, four of
whom were Ivoirians and one Congolese, all confessed
to attacking the officer, being economic migrants
illegally present in Morocco, and making false
statements to UNHCR to obtain refugee status.

Defense lawyers argued the statement were not
credible considering that they were written in
Arabic (Note: the suspects are illiterate and do not
speak Arabic),and all the statements were
identically worded.


5. (SBU) Van Der Klaauw told poloff that although
UNHCR did not want to appear to interfere with the
judicial process in Morocco, he had spoken to
"influential people" in the GOM and warned them that
if the refugees were expelled, he would have to
speak out forcefully against the GOM. The Court of
First Instance in Sale announced on July 27
sentences of one month in prison, fines of
approximately $60 US dollars, and dismissed charges
of illegal entry. The sentence amounted to time-
served and was considered by UNHCR and others to be
lenient.

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Refugee Grievances
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6. (SBU) Mohammed Camara, a student from Guinea who
has worked with the refugee community as a social
worker for UNHCR's implementing partner, told poloff
that the eruption of anger and violence should have
been anticipated. The refugees, he explained,
refuse to accept a long-term future in Morocco as a
durable solution and believe resettlement in Europe
or the US is the only answer. This problem, he
noted, is exacerbated by the GOM's refusal to grant
refugees Moroccan residency permits and hence the
right to work and access other services. (Reftel)
The refugees feel let down and angry with UNHCR for
a perceived lack of financial assistance and the
infrequency of resettlements, he added. Some of the
refugees also believe that UNHCR exhibits favoritism
to certain nationalities by resettling more recent
arrivals before others. Van Der Klaauw bristled at
criticism of favoritism and argued that UNHCR has
successfully resettled some cases, but only for
those who meet the 1951 Refugee Convention
definition of refugee. He noted that of the
approximately 750 recognized refugees in Morocco, 65
percent are from Cote d'Ivoire and the DRC, most of
whom were granted protection under the UHCR's
extended mandate definition. Donor countries are
generally reluctant to accept these extended mandate
cases, he added.


7. (SBU) Van Der Klaauw lamented that relations with
the GOM have been negatively affected by this
outburst of violence. He noted that the GOM has not
taken any steps in the last year to establish an
asylum office capable of adjudicating refugee
claims, screening applicants at the border, or
update laws to comply with international
obligations. Van Der Klaauw reported that the delay
is the responsibility of the Ministry of Interior
(MOI) which is wary of taking steps that it believes
will either encourage clandestine migration or
threaten the border security of Morocco. The
prevailing view within the security services was
expressed to poloff by a senior MOI official in the
Office of Borders and Migration Security who argued
that all refugees in Morocco are actually economic
migrants since they have passed through numerous
other countries in their journey to reach Europe.
However, the GOM has indicated to UNHCR that they
are willing to work to find solutions on a case by
case basis for the most vulnerable individuals;
normally, these solutions entail the granting of
residence permits.


8. (SBU) COMMENT: Morocco has recently taken
numerous positive steps to comply with its 1951
Convention obligations including signing a country
agreement with UNHCR in 2008 and putting an end to
the expulsion of recognized refugees. In fact, the
GOM's decision to not expel the refugees affirms its
commitment to the principle of non-refoulement. The
MOI is understandably reluctant to create what it

believes are incentives for the migrant communities
to come to Morocco. Morocco's transformation from a
country of origin for migration to a country of
transit and destination is difficult for the GOM to
reconcile with its stated goal of complying
international obligations regarding refugees.
Despite this dilemma, asylum reform, like most
reform in Morocco, continues to moves forward
slowly.


9. This message was coordinated with Embassy Rabat.
MILLARD