Paulin Kuanzambi

A day or two before we left Morocco, I went to say goodbye to Paulin Kuanzambi, an Angolan refugee in Morocco who now works with AFVIC (Amis et Familles des Victimes de l'Immigration Clandestine, "Friends and Families of Victims of Clandestine Migration"). Paulin had been great help to me in some stories I did for The World on migration in Morocco.

Paulin was out and I didn't get to say goodbye. As I just found out, he had been entrapped into a meeting with members of the Moroccan secret service, who posed as journalists, then kidnapped him and another activist and drove them to the border with Algeria. You can a letter from AFVIC (in French) about it it after the jump.

This will be the fourth time that Paulin--who's been officially recognized as a refugee by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees--is illegally kicked out of Morocco. The secret service agents took his money, hit him and his companion, and then showed them pictures of recent refugee sit-ins in front of the Moroccan office of UNHCR (see previous post on Arabist) and asked questions about the people involved.

I find it incredibly disturbing that the agents posed as journalists--then we wonder why refugees are often leery of the press!

I don't understand why the Moroccan government--while hosting international conferences on migrants and their "rights"--treats a few thousand refugees on its soil like seditious criminals.

I also don't understand why UNHCR seems so utterly incapable of fulfilling its mandate and protecting the people it has recognized as refugees. Unless the UNHCR office in Rabat--as the one in Cairo--has little sympathy for refugees who advocate for their rights (I was told that during a recent refugee sit-in, it was the UNHCR office itself that called the Moroccan police).

Enlèvement et refoulement d’un agent de proximité de l’AFVIC

L’AFVIC informe sur l’enlèvement et le refoulement de Paulin Kuanzambi, le 02 août 2006, membre et agent de proximité au sein de l’association AFVIC. C’est un réfugié statutaire angolais au Maroc depuis juin 2004. Il était en compagnie de Marcel Amiyeto lui aussi réfugié Statutaire.
Paulin a reçu un appel téléphonique de personnes prétendant être des journalistes suisse pour une interview à 14h à Casablanca alors qu’ils sont des services secrets. Un deuxième appel a reporté le rendez-vous à Rabat devant le café Balima en face du parlement. Ils se sont rencontrés à 21h à deux heures de retard. Ils avaient une voiture bleue de marque Peugeot au bord de laquelle ils sont partis vers la côte. Deux autres personnes se sont joignis au groupe et ont demandé à Paulin d’éteindre son portable sous la menace. Le refus de son compagnon Marcel lui a coûté quelques coups plus les deux mille dirhams (2000 dh) de Paulin. On leur a présenté des photos prises lors de différents Sit-in en leur citant les noms des différents responsables des comités des réfugiés au Maroc. Par la suite, on les a conduit dans les voisinages de la ville de Oujda à travers la route de Meknès.
Deux autres demandeurs d'asile ont été arrêté à Rabat le 27 juillet 2006 après leurs participations au Sit-in organisé par les réfugiés et demandeurs d’asile devant le Bureau du HCR et ont été refoulé vers la ville de Oujda.
AFVIC dénonce fermement l’arrestation et le refoulement de Paulin Kuanzambi et les autres réfugies et demandeurs d’asile et invite les autorités marocaines à assumer leurs responsabilités et de s’abstenir de toute mesure de refoulement aux frontières.
L’AFVIC rappelle les autorités marocaines à respecter la convention de Genève en 1951 inspiré par les principes de la déclaration universelle des droits de l’homme.

Comments

[Hossam el-Hamalawy]

Oh no! I'm so sorry to hear that Issandr. I honestly never gave a damn about the "legal status" for refugees, coz for me everyone should be welcome wherever. The passports are a stupid invention that came in with WWI, and it messed our bloody lives since then.
Tell me, though, do those refugees face also racism from the society in Morocco (like what Sudanese refugees go through here in Egypt) or do the hassels come only from the state and secret services?

[Ursula Lindsey]

Sub-Saharan African refugees in Morocco, in particular, face racism. They tell you all the usual depressing stories about being called names, spat on, having rocks thrown at them, etc. While in some cases (as here) Moroccans are helpful and kind (particularly rural communities that still follow traditional hospitality) in general I'd have to say that racism is really widespread.

Also, slavery of Sub-Saharan Africans lasted well into the 20th century in Morocco (in Mauritania it's ongoing) and so the common insult "slave" has a real resonance.

Also, now, you have Moroccan media reinforcing negative stereotypes like black Africans are all criminals, dangerous, etc.

[Hossam el-Hamalawy]

Shokran for the info ya Ursula. Sorry about the mix up in the names above.