Moroccan American Center for Policy News
Refugees International Hosts Forum to Shed Light on Humanitarian Crisis in Polisario Camps
WASHINGTON, May 8 PRNewswire-USNewswire — Refugees International (http://www.refugeesinternational.org), a U.S.- based NGO and leading advocate for refugee protection all over the world, hosted a forum yesterday to examine the plight of tens of thousands of Sahrawi refugees currently held in the Polisario controlled camps in southern Algeria. A group of former Sahrawi refugees from the Western Sahara visiting Washington, D.C. this week shared their personal stories of escape, human rights abuse, and manipulation by the Polisario Front.
One of Refugees International's top priorities is to insure that critical humanitarian aid reaches refugee communities that are most vulnerable. Too often, as Naha Al Salek Sidi, a 27-year-old handicapped mother of two, described, much of the humanitarian assistance from international donors never reaches those in the Polisario camps. Naha, a former Sahrawi refugee who recently returned to Morocco, recounted how she was used by the Polisario to solicit medical supplies from international NGOs — yet denied a wheelchair that she desperately needed. Instead, the medical equipment and supplies intended for Naha and other handicapped Sahrawi refugees were sold in the markets of neighboring Mauritania.
Also of concern for Refugees International is the family separation resulting from the Western Sahara conflict that has separated thousands of Sahrawi refugee families for more than three decades. Al Afia Hammidi, a mother of five, was allowed recently by the Polisario Front to participate in the UNHCR Family Visit program to Morocco — after nearly four years on a waiting list. When she arrived in Morocco and decided to stay, the Polisario refused to allow her two youngest children to join her. In fact, it was not until two weeks ago, after much international pressure, that the Polisario finally allowed the children to reunite with their mother in Morocco.
Many of those who attended the forum echoed Refugee International's call to end the current humanitarian crisis, including Dr. William Zartman, a professor at Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies and an expert in conflict resolution and North African affairs.
"This morning's session was an eye-opener, for those whose eyes need it, into life in the camps in Algeria. It showed how important it is to open up the camps to let the outside air in and the people who want it out," said Professor Zartman at the conclusion of the forum. "The Sahara under Moroccan control is visitable and porous, and people can come in and out as they want. Let the same conditions come to pass in the camps."
By the end of the forum, it was clear from the former refugees' testimonies that conditions in the camps are worsening. The major obstacle to solving this on-going humanitarian crisis is the refusal of the Polisario Front and Algeria to allow the refugees the freedom to choose to leave the camps and return to Morocco if they desire.
"If the Polisario and Algeria are truly sincere about addressing human rights issues in the Sahara, they would open the refugee camps," said Robert Holley, executive director of the Moroccan American Center for Policy. "Providing freedom of movement would allow the refugees to decide on their own whether they want to leave the camps or stay."
The Moroccan American Center for Policy (MACP) is a non-profit organization whose principal mission is to inform opinion makers, government officials and an interested public in the United States about political and social developments in Morocco and the role being played by the Kingdom of Morocco in broader strategic developments in North Africa, the Mediterranean, and the Middle East.
For more information, please visit www.moroccanamericanpolicy.org
This material is distributed by DJE, Inc. and the Moroccan-American Center for Policy on behalf of the Government of Morocco. Additional information is available at the Department of Justice in Washington, DC.
SOURCE Moroccan American Center for Policy
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