While Algeria announced on Thursday that it will host a group of Syrian refugees stuck since April 17th in the Moroccan-Algerian borders, an official source from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation told Yabiladi on Friday that the neighboring country had only assumed its responsibilities. «By making the decision of allowing the entry of the Syrian refugees stranded on the Algerian-Moroccan border, since the 17th of April 2017, Algeria has finally accepted to assume its political and moral responsibility after several weeks of dithering and attempts to bring in, illegally, 54 Syrian refugees to the Moroccan territory», the source declared. «This decision could have taken place a little earlier to avoid the humanitarian tragedy and suffering that the Syrian families went through, including several women and children, for multiple weeks. Morocco hopes that this kind of situation will not happen in the future». The same source adds that «Morocco fully assumes its responsibilities towards the Syrian population». It cites, inter alia, «the regularization of the situation of more than 5,259 Syrians and the granting of refugee status to several hundreds», and also providing «humanitarian and logistical aid for the Syrian citizens in Jordan» and financial and logistical assistance offered to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees. «Morocco has also provided USD 4 million for Syrian refugees at the donors' conference in Kuwait in 2013», our source concludes. On Thursday, Algerian Foreign Ministry spokesman Abdelaziz Benali Cherif announced that Algeria will host the group of Syrian refugees «blocked since April the 17th in Figuig». For Algiers, this is an «exceptional humanitarian gesture».
