Conflicts at stalemate “behind situations that challenge us,” Messahel
APS : Monday, 01 October 2018
GENEVA-Foreign Minister Abdelkader Messahel said that seventy years after the signing of the Geneva Refugee Convention, “many crises continue to have disastrous effects, pushing millions
of people to seek protection and hope for a better future.”.
In his address to the 69th session of the Executive Committee of the Programme of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Messahel recalled that “in Africa, the Middle East and Asia, conflicts at stalemate are behind situations that challenge us, where victims expect strong commitments and actions for sustainable solutions.”
As regards Algeria’s contribution, Messahel stated that “Algeria, as a traditional land of asylum, remains committed to its benevolent policy towards refugees and displaced persons present on its territory. The policy is based on a deep conviction that has been shaped throughout its history.”
“For more than four decades, the country has received tens of thousands of Sahrawi refugees and is responsible for most of their assistance and protection as refugees recognized by the United Nations,” The FM recalled.
“Algeria receives refugees and displaced persons from other countries experiencing conflict and instability, including 40,000 Syrian nationals who chose to stay in Algeria following the crisis in that country,” recalled Messahel, stressing that that “Algeria created a mechanism, still in force, facilitating access to education, health services and the labour market.”
The top diplomat also affirmed that “Algeria supports efforts to resolve the conflicts in Western Sahara and the Syrian crisis so that refugees return to their homeland once stability and security prevail there.”
Messahel advocated “a commitment by all parties to further protect persecuted, refugee or displaced persons, because mobilization is not an option, but an emergency.”
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