UNHCR extremely worried by racists incidents against Moroccans in spain

The UN High Commissioner for refugees, Mary Robinson, is "extremely worried" by the recent upsurge of racist violence against Moroccans in the Spanish southern locality of El Ejido.

In a phone statement to MAP's office in Geneva, the UNHCR spokesman said Robinson is closely following developments and has asked Spanish authorities for additional information on the xenophobe incidents and about measures they are considering to end the violence acts targeting Moroccans and to punish authors of the violence acts.

The spokesman said Robinson is all the more worried over the situation since she visited Spain in mid-January and talked to Spanish authorities about their contribution to a world conference against racism in 2001 in South Africa.

In preparation for the world conference against racism, the UNHCR is projecting an international encounter of experts to probe appeal procedures available for victims of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and intolerance.

Moroccans settled in the Andalucian locality of El Egido, near Almeria, were subject to terrorist acts Monday night in retaliation for the murder of a Spanish woman allegedly by a mentally-disturbed Moroccan man.

52 Moroccans were seriously injured and 17 arrested during El Egido clashes which were denounced by both the Spanish and Moroccan media, non governmental organizations and immigrant associations including the association of Moroccan immigrant workers in Spain.

Moroccan workers settled in El Egido have observed a three-day strike which caused daily losses estimated at 2 billion pesetas per day to agricultural farms.

The Moroccan trade union "Confederation Democratique du Travail" (CDT) decided to lodge a complaint with the International labor Organization against Spain for non-protection of Moroccan expatriate workers.