(by Diego Minuti)
(ANSAmed) - ROME, FEBRUARY 2 - The 1975 expulsion of 45,000
Moroccan families from Algeria scarred relations between the two
countries and continues to create problems between them.
The families had long been residing in Algeria, and on
December 9 of that year they were unexpectedly issued expulsion
orders by President Houari Boumediene. The decree ordered that
even Moroccans living in Algeria for generations had to leave
the country at extremely short notice. Making it more painful
was the fact that it was issued during the most important
holiday of the year for Muslims, the Feast of Sacrifice, which
is meant to be celebrated in a spirit of solidarity and
brotherhood. Many of the Moroccans had been born in Algeria and
considered it their homeland.
Houari Boumediene, one of Algeria's most popular
presidents, made the decision due to the two countries' dispute
over the future of the former Spanish Sahara, which Hassan II
occupied in a de facto manner in part thanks to the 'Green
March', which tens of thousands of people took part in. The
45,000 families were targeted simply as part of a larger
political game and were forced to leave everything in their
possession in Algeria: property, homes, money and even family
jewels.
Many of those wanting to remain ended up agreeing to
terrible compromises, as the popular Algerian singer Khaled
wrote in a 2009 song that speaks about Moroccan girls that
agreed to marry elderly men from Oran to stay.
All of the initiatives taken thus far by members of the
expelled families - who have joined together in the Admea
association - have run up against the hardline stance taken by
the Algerian authorities. The latter have also rejected requests
made by international institutions, such as when the
international Human Rights Committee asked Algiers in 2009 to
review its decisions.
Meanwhile, some members of the families continue to
experience hardship in Morocco while others opted to begin from
scratch in Europe or elsewhere. (ANSAmed).
