Minister Delegate to Foreign Ministry Calls On Mauritanians Abroad To Respect Laws of Countries of Residence

The National Assembly dedicated its public session held on 11 January, under the chairmanship of MP Fatimetou Khalifa Amar Habib, Deputy Speaker of the Assembly, to hear the responses of Mr. Mohamed Yahya Ould Said, the Minister Delegate to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Cooperation, and Mauritanians Exterior, in charge of Mauritanians Abroad, to the oral question addressed by MP Yahya Ould Loud, relating to the migration of young Mauritanians to the United States.

In his question, the MP indicated that more than 12,000 Mauritanian citizens have arrived in the United States of America, of whom 1,500 are still languishing in its prisons. 

He questioned the strategy that the Mauritanian government intends to implement to stop this hemorrhage and the mechanisms adopted to help young people in American shelters and prisons. 

In response to this question, the Minister indicated that the President of the Republic, Mohamed Ould Cheikh El Ghazouani, pays particular attention to the Mauritanian community abroad, reflected in creating a department responsible for monitoring and resolving the problems they face. 

He stressed that his department is willing to deal with the different communities, listen to their requests, and seek to satisfy them on the ground, praising the role played by our communities in contributing to the economic development of the country.

Ould Said praised the discipline and responsibility of our communities, as no shameful act has been recorded against their members in the countries where they reside, stressing that they are worthy of representing their country in its Islamic, cultural, and social dimensions. 

He declared that the issue of irregular migration constitutes a complex issue whose treatment requires time and resources, stressing that States are sovereign in managing this phenomenon through their related regulations. 

The Minister Delegate recalled that our embassies in brotherly and friendly countries communicate directly with all our communities, stressing that the ministry works to protect the interests of our citizens in their countries of residence. 

He stressed the need for our citizens abroad to respect the laws of the countries in which they reside and to strengthen their communication with our embassies, indicating that the MPs’ proposals will be taken into account. 

Ould Said added that the issue of dual nationality, claimed for decades by our communities, was resolved in relatively record time, allowing them to directly elect their representatives to parliament, which is clear proof of the State’s interest for the situation of these communities. 

The Minister also indicated that the meetings held by His Excellency the President of the Republic with members of the communities of the countries he visited made it possible to resolve some of the problems from which these communities suffer. 

He highlighted the importance of adopting the “Houwiyeti” application, which allowed members of our communities to benefit easily and remotely from the various services offered by the Civil Registry, which saved them the hassle and expense of traveling home to obtain their documents.