Addressing the 62nd session of the Executive Committee, Hilale urged countries providing humanitarian aid to put pressure on Algeria to lift its veto over the registration of the population held in the camps.

He noted that all host countries enabled the UNHCR to conduct a head-count and register the refugees except Algeria.

Algeria’s intransigence is maintained at a threefold cost, political, humanitarian and protection, said the Moroccan diplomat.

In terms of protection, the non-registration of the camps’ population deprives them from enjoying their right to free movement, expression and other rights enshrined in International law.

Non-registration serves polisario’s schemes in maintaining the population in a state of dependence, deprivation and vulnerability, Hilale deplored.

This situation provides an environment propitious for the continuation of the embezzlement of humanitarian aid by the polisario leaders who sell this international aid, which is supposed to reach the camps’ population, in Markets in Algeria and neighboring countries, noted the Ambassador.

The humanitarian aid embezzlement by the polisario separatists was proven in reports such as those elaborated by the European Commission’s OLAF, and UNHCR’s PAM in May 2005, Hilale recalled.

At the political level, non-registration stems from a political attitude aiming at perpetuating the conflict, maintaining tension in the Maghreb and obstructing regional integration, he said.

Non-registration cost in terms of protection

Hilale said that the non-registration of these populations creates a direct cost in terms of violation of various rights including freedom of movement, expression, association and others that are recognized by international law .

It was reflected also by the opposition of Algeria for their voluntary return to their home country Morocco, local integration and resettlement in third countries, despite the generous offer of several countries to host them, said Mr Hilal.

This triple obstruction creates a feeling of hopelessness especially among young people, who were born in the camps and at risk of dying in the camps, he said.

Humanitarian cost of non-registration

The non-registration of camp populations and misappropriation of aid stems from the strategy to maintain these populations in a state of dependency, food deprivation and vulnerability, to continue to exploit their humanitarian tragedy, said the Ambassador.

International aid embezzlement cause, food shortages, malnutrition, disease and scarcity of medical products; it is found later in the markets of Algeria and neighboring countries.

Hilale added in this regard that several reports including OLAF of the European Commission, WFP and UNHCR, have confirmed this embezzlement and justify the joint decision of the two agencies in May 2005, to significantly reduce the number of beneficiaries from their assistance in these camps.

Political cost of non-registration

The non-registration of people in Tindouf camps creates a political cost for these populations, as well as the entire region.

Hilale said that this attitude stems from a deliberate attempt to perpetuate the conflict, maintain the tension in the region and closed borders between the two countries and freeze the construction of the Great Maghreb.

He stressed in this context that the combination of these three costs induces an increasing impact on security in the region. The feeling of despair in the camp, has pushed many young people to join networks of drug trafficking, soft weapons, networks of illegal migration and terrorism which are active in the region of the Sahara and Sahel.

Hilale mentioned several reports of NGOs and foreign research centers, the most recent is the editorial of the Hudson Institute, last Friday, that converge on the collusion between elements of the Polisario and Al Qaeda in the Sahara and Sahel.

Hilale concluded with a call to Algeria, following the recent warming of bilateral relations and exchange of ministerial visits, so that this momentum could also be beneficial to the UNHCR to fulfill its statutory responsibilities to register populations of the Tindouf camps.