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Crisis in Tindouf: How Polisario and Algeria have created a dire situation for Sahrawi refugees
June 4, 2020, 10:46 PM IST Rudroneel Ghosh in Talking Turkey | World | TOI
A major concern with respect to the Covid-19 pandemic in North Africa is the situation in the Tindouf Sahrawi refugee camps in western Algeria. These camps which are controlled by the Polisario Front separatist organisation reportedly have deplorable sanitation and health conditions with inmates lacking access to basics. In fact, even earlier this year in February, Sahrawis at the camps were protesting restrictions to their freedom of movement. Add to this reports that the camps are totally unprepared to deal with the Covid pandemic. As per Oxfam International’s report last month, “The refugee population in the camps is chronically vulnerable, and healthcare centers in the camps have no ventilators and are not equipped to deal with the consequences of a Covid-19 spread.
Additionally it said, “Within the camps, health centers are already experiencing a shortage of beds, medical supplies, protective equipment for medical staff, and hygiene products. There is not a single ventilator in the camps. Considering the close quarters in which many refugees live and the widespread prevalence of existing health conditions, including acute malnutrition, stunting, diabetes, and anemia, and one of the highest prevalence of coeliac disease in the world, the risk of an outbreak is incredibly high and could be potentially devastating.”
In sum, the situation in the five Sahrawi refugee camps in Tindouf is extremely vulnerable. The camps could become a major Covid hotspot. What is adding to concerns is the fact that there is a complete information blackout vis-a-vis the camps. We simply don’t have real-time information on the Covid cases from Tindouf as the Polisario has imposed a total clampdown. While Oxfam reported nine cases in Tindouf in May, human rights activists in April believed that at least 250 people in the camps had been infected.
Why have things come to this pass? The refugees in Tindouf have become so vulnerable precisely because of the leadership of the Polisario that has put them in this position. It will be recalled that since the 1970s the Polisario has carried out an armed separatist struggle against Morocco. This, despite the fact that the portion of the Moroccan Sahara that the Polisario claims was divided between Morocco and Mauritania under the 1975 Madrid Accords. Mauritania relinquished its claim in 1979 but the Polisario, backed by Algeria, continued its armed struggle.
A UN brokered ceasefire was established in 1991 between Morocco and Polisario, allowing for the establishment of the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara. But conditions for the referendum were never fulfilled, thanks to intransigence on the part of Polisario. In fact, even today the Polisario has failed to carry out a census of the refugees in the Tindouf camps, despite repeated directions from the UN Security Council.
As a result of Polisario’s and Algeria’s machinations — Algeria doesn’t really want to solve the Sahrawi issue as it sees this as a helpful tool to get back at Morocco for the 1963 Sand War — the refugees in the Tindouf camps have been trapped in jail-like conditions. Plus, in 2015 a report by the EU’s Anti-Fraud Body exposed large-scale humanitarian aid diversion operations in the Tindouf camps. There is no evidence to suggest that such aid diversions have stopped. As the population in the camps suffer, reports suggest that the Polisario leadership continues to live comparatively luxurious lives.
So yes, the refugees in the Tindouf camps definitely need help and humanitarian assistance. But it must be recognised that their deplorable situation has been created by Algeria and the Polisario leadership. The Moroccan Sahara is historically and legally Moroccan. In fact, Morocco has already offered maximum autonomy for the Sahara provinces with local Sahrawis empowered to decide their own domestic policies and economic programmes. The artificial Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic that the Polisario props up — which is neither recognised by the Arab League nor the UN — has no locus standii. In fact, the Spanish Supreme Court has just banned the use, occasional or permanent, of unofficial flags of outfits like the Polisario inside and outside public buildings in Spain. This clearly shows the dubious political underpinnings of the Polisario and its Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic.
The Sahrawi refugees in Tindouf are facing a serious humanitarian crisis in light of Covid. But the Polisario and its Algerian mentors are at the root of this problem. They should not be allowed to take the moral high ground here.
AUTHOR
Rudroneel Ghosh
I am a Delhi-based journalist working for the Edit Page of The Times of India.
timesofindia
June 4, 2020, 10:46 PM IST Rudroneel Ghosh in Talking Turkey | World | TOI
A major concern with respect to the Covid-19 pandemic in North Africa is the situation in the Tindouf Sahrawi refugee camps in western Algeria. These camps which are controlled by the Polisario Front separatist organisation reportedly have deplorable sanitation and health conditions with inmates lacking access to basics. In fact, even earlier this year in February, Sahrawis at the camps were protesting restrictions to their freedom of movement. Add to this reports that the camps are totally unprepared to deal with the Covid pandemic. As per Oxfam International’s report last month, “The refugee population in the camps is chronically vulnerable, and healthcare centers in the camps have no ventilators and are not equipped to deal with the consequences of a Covid-19 spread.
Additionally it said, “Within the camps, health centers are already experiencing a shortage of beds, medical supplies, protective equipment for medical staff, and hygiene products. There is not a single ventilator in the camps. Considering the close quarters in which many refugees live and the widespread prevalence of existing health conditions, including acute malnutrition, stunting, diabetes, and anemia, and one of the highest prevalence of coeliac disease in the world, the risk of an outbreak is incredibly high and could be potentially devastating.”
In sum, the situation in the five Sahrawi refugee camps in Tindouf is extremely vulnerable. The camps could become a major Covid hotspot. What is adding to concerns is the fact that there is a complete information blackout vis-a-vis the camps. We simply don’t have real-time information on the Covid cases from Tindouf as the Polisario has imposed a total clampdown. While Oxfam reported nine cases in Tindouf in May, human rights activists in April believed that at least 250 people in the camps had been infected.
Why have things come to this pass? The refugees in Tindouf have become so vulnerable precisely because of the leadership of the Polisario that has put them in this position. It will be recalled that since the 1970s the Polisario has carried out an armed separatist struggle against Morocco. This, despite the fact that the portion of the Moroccan Sahara that the Polisario claims was divided between Morocco and Mauritania under the 1975 Madrid Accords. Mauritania relinquished its claim in 1979 but the Polisario, backed by Algeria, continued its armed struggle.
A UN brokered ceasefire was established in 1991 between Morocco and Polisario, allowing for the establishment of the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara. But conditions for the referendum were never fulfilled, thanks to intransigence on the part of Polisario. In fact, even today the Polisario has failed to carry out a census of the refugees in the Tindouf camps, despite repeated directions from the UN Security Council.
As a result of Polisario’s and Algeria’s machinations — Algeria doesn’t really want to solve the Sahrawi issue as it sees this as a helpful tool to get back at Morocco for the 1963 Sand War — the refugees in the Tindouf camps have been trapped in jail-like conditions. Plus, in 2015 a report by the EU’s Anti-Fraud Body exposed large-scale humanitarian aid diversion operations in the Tindouf camps. There is no evidence to suggest that such aid diversions have stopped. As the population in the camps suffer, reports suggest that the Polisario leadership continues to live comparatively luxurious lives.
So yes, the refugees in the Tindouf camps definitely need help and humanitarian assistance. But it must be recognised that their deplorable situation has been created by Algeria and the Polisario leadership. The Moroccan Sahara is historically and legally Moroccan. In fact, Morocco has already offered maximum autonomy for the Sahara provinces with local Sahrawis empowered to decide their own domestic policies and economic programmes. The artificial Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic that the Polisario props up — which is neither recognised by the Arab League nor the UN — has no locus standii. In fact, the Spanish Supreme Court has just banned the use, occasional or permanent, of unofficial flags of outfits like the Polisario inside and outside public buildings in Spain. This clearly shows the dubious political underpinnings of the Polisario and its Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic.
The Sahrawi refugees in Tindouf are facing a serious humanitarian crisis in light of Covid. But the Polisario and its Algerian mentors are at the root of this problem. They should not be allowed to take the moral high ground here.
AUTHOR
Rudroneel Ghosh
I am a Delhi-based journalist working for the Edit Page of The Times of India.
timesofindia
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