Morocco reiterated its firm condemnation of Algeria’s connivance with the Polisario militias in maintaining a civil population hostage in abhorrent living conditions in the Tindouf camps. The Moroccan diplomat also recalled Algeria’s reluctance to allow a head-count of the population held against their will in the Tindouf camps, adding that Algeria’s refusal to allow the UN refugee agency to conduct a census has serious repercussions on the protection of the population. Carrying out a head-count of the population will also pave the way for the camps dwellers to obtain the refugee status. The Polisario and its mentor Algeria have been blamed by EU’s anti-fraud office (OLAF) and several NGOs for diverting humanitarian aid. The diplomat called for an objective evaluation of the situation in the Tindouf camps, to establish the political responsibility in the creation and persistence of this situation, the militarization of the Tindouf camps, the repeated opposition to a census, obstruction of a lasting solution, and the persistence of human rights violations in these camps.

Source: The North Africa Journal March 07, 2018 19:30 UTC