On 18 December 1975, the first day of

Eid al-Adha Eid al-Adha () is the second and the larger of the two main holidays celebrated in Islam (the other being Eid al-Fitr). It honours the willingness of Ibrahim (Abraham) to sacrifice his son Ismail (Ishmael) as an act of obedience to Allah's co ...

, the Algerian president

Houari Boumediene Houari is a given name and surname. It may refer to: Persons Given name *Houari Boumédiène, also transcribed Boumediene, Boumedienne etc. (1932–1978), served as Chairman of the Revolutionary Council of Algeria from 19 June 1965 until 12 Decembe ...

ordered the expulsion of all Moroccan nationals from Algeria, resulting in the exodus of 45,000 Moroccan families, or by some accounts 350,000 people in total. Although, according to some modern sources, between 10,000 to 30,000 were expelled and 5,000 Moroccans were granted Algerian nationality. The expulsion was a response to the

Madrid Accords The Madrid Accords, formally the Declaration of Principles on Western Sahara, was a treaty between Spain, Morocco, and Mauritania setting out six principles which would end the Spanish presence in the territory of Spanish Sahara and arrange a t ...

(which did not include the consultation of Algeria nor the POLISARIO movement) and the earlier

Green March The Green March was a strategic mass demonstration in November 1975, coordinated by the Moroccan government, to force Spain to hand over the disputed, autonomous semi-metropolitan province of Spanish Sahara to Morocco. At that time, the Spani ...

in the

Western Sahara Western Sahara ( '; ; ) is a disputed territory on the northwest coast and in the Maghreb region of North and West Africa. About 20% of the territory is controlled by the self-proclaimed Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), while the r ...

The exodus, code-named by the Algerian government as the "Black March", was carried out by

Abdelaziz Bouteflika Abdelaziz Bouteflika (; ar, عبد العزيز بوتفليقة, ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz Būtaflīqa ; 2 March 1937 – 17 September 2021) was an Algerian politician and diplomat who served as President of Algeria from 1999 to his resignation in 2019 ...

, then the foreign minister of Algeria at the time. 45,000 families were estimated to have been expelled; a large portion of them had lived in Algeria for decades or even centuries. Most Moroccans had lived wealthy lifestyles and were in good conditions prior to the expulsion. Many families were separated; Moroccans who had married Algerians were not deported but their family members usually were. Many Moroccans have not yet been reunited with their families.

Commemoration

In 2019, the Moroccan military posted a video on Facebook depicting the testimonies of Moroccan refugees, calling for an apology from Algeria. The video was also a response to the Algerian Government's demands for Morocco to apologize for Algerians it left stranded after a 1994 terrorist attack in

Asni Asni ( ar, أسني) is a small town in the foothills of the High Atlas mountains near Marrakesh, Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overloo ...

Marrakesh Marrakesh or Marrakech ( or ; ar, مراكش, murrākuš, ; ber, ⵎⵕⵕⴰⴽⵛ, translit=mṛṛakc}) is the fourth largest city in the Kingdom of Morocco. It is one of the four Imperial cities of Morocco and is the capital of the Marrakes ...

. The

Moroccan Organization for Human Rights Moroccan may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to the country of Morocco * Moroccan people * Moroccan Arabic, spoken in Morocco * Moroccan Jews See also * Morocco leather Morocco leather (also known as Levant, the French Mar ...

(ODHM) has also called for the United Nations to investigate the expulsion. In July 2014, the Moroccan Foreign Ministry brought the topic up again, urging Algeria to conduct a re-examination of the exodus.

References

Algeria–Morocco relations Human rights in Algeria 1975 in Morocco 1975 in Algeria Western Sahara conflict Deportation {{Morocco-hist-stub