Satellite images shared on Moroccan media showed a sand wall built by Algerian authorities around the Polisario-run Tindouf camps where thousands of Sahraouis remain hostage. The Polisario and its mentor Algeria have restricted access by independent rights groups to the camps and prevented the UN refugee agency from conducting a head count. Any attempt to flee the camps may lead to death, as happened in recent years, when Algerian army shot Sahraouis dead. To mention but a few, in March 2018 Algerian soldiers fired without warning at a car leaving Tindouf camps killing Kari Mohamed Ali Elouali and his friend Ahmed Lebouiya Sahraoui. The reinforcement of the Algerian siege on Tindouf camps also comes against the backdrop of mounting tension and protests in the camps against the Polisairo’s corruption and their perpetuation of their ordeal as well as against the crackdown of dissent.

Source: The North Africa Journal February 03, 2020 23:37 UTC