Algeria takes in stranded refugees as 'Ramadan gesture'

Thursday's decision comes two days after UN’s refugee agency (UNHCR) urged Algeria and Morocco to co-operate on finding a way to settle the refugees, including children, babies and at least one pregnant woman.

"Prompt action by both governments is needed in facilitating the immediate and safe passage of the forty-one vulnerable Syrian refugees," UNHCR said in a statement.

"We urge Algeria and Morocco to work with us on ending this dangerous and untenable situation for these stranded desperate Syrian refugees," it added.

A statement by the Algerian foreign ministry said the country will take in the refugees as a "standalone humanitarian gesture" in honour of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

Towards the end of April, The New Arab had reported that among the trapped refugees was a pregnant woman who had given birth to her daughter in a climate above 40 degrees Celsius.

Accusations and condemnations

At the start of the crisis, Morocco and Algeria faced a diplomatic dispute, as each country would claim the other responsible for handling the Syrian refugees.

"Algeria must assume political responsibility and morality concerning this situation," the ministry statement published by the MAP state news agency said in April.

"It is immoral and unethical to manipulate the moral and physical distress of these people, (and) to sow trouble in the Morocco-Algerian border."

Algeria responded with a statement saying that Morocco's envoy had been summoned to reject the accusation. The country's foreign ministry countered that Moroccan officials had in fact attempted to dispatch a group of Syrians into Algeria.

Since then, the two North African countries had faced condemnation for leaving Syrian refugees in “abysmal” conditions.