Sahrawi refugee camps
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The Sahrawi refugee camps (
The limited opportunities for self-reliance in the harsh desert environment have forced the refugees to rely on international humanitarian assistance for their survival.[3] However, the Tindouf camps differ from the majority of refugee camps in the level of self-organization. Most affairs and camp life organization are run by the refugees themselves, with little outside interference.[4]
The camps are divided into five
Administration and public service institutions
The refugee camps are governed by
Local committees distribute basic goods, water and food, while "daïra" authorities made up by the representatives of the "hays" organize schools, cultural activities and medical services. Some argue that this results in a form of basic
Algeria does not intervene in their organization.[9] While the Algerian military has a significant presence in the nearby city of Tindouf, Algeria insists that responsibility for human rights in the camps lies with the Polisario.[2]
Camp residents are subject to the constitution and laws of SADR. A local justice system, with courts and prisons, is administered by Polisario. Local qadis (sharia judges) have jurisdiction over personal status and family law issues.[2]
Polisario has prioritised education from the beginning,[7] and the local authorities have established 29 preschools, 31 primary and seven secondary schools, the academic institutions of ‘27 February’ and ‘12 October’ as well as various technical training centres (without forgetting that Tindouf campements count 90.000 refugees) .[3] While teaching materials are still scarce, the literacy rate has increased from about 5% at the formation of the camps to 90% in 1995.[5] Children's education is obligatory,[7] and several thousands have received university educations in Algeria, Cuba[10] and Spain as part of aid packages.
The camps have 27 clinics, a central hospital and four regional hospitals.[3]
Men perform military service in the armed forces of the SADR. During the war years, at least some women were enrolled in auxiliary units guarding the refugee camps.
Population numbers
The number of Sahrawi refugees in Tindouf camps is disputed and politically sensitive. Morocco argues that Polisario and Algeria overestimate the numbers to attract political attention and foreign aid, while Polisario accuses Morocco of attempting to restrict human aid as a means of pressure on civilian refugee populations. The refugees' numbers will also be important in determining their political weight in the possible event of a referendum to determine Western Sahara's future status.
Algerian authorities have estimated the number of Sahrawi refugees in Algeria to be 165,000. This has been supported by Polisario, although the movement recognizes that some refugees have rebased to Mauritania, a country that houses about 26,000 Sahrawis refugees.
In 1998, UN's
The Moroccan government contends that the total number of refugees is around 45,000 to 50,000, and also that these people are kept in the camps by Polisario against their will.[15] However, the Central Intelligence Agency notes that there are about 100,000 refugees in Algerian sponsored camps near the town of Tindouf alone.[16]
Living conditions
The Tindouf area is located on the hammada, a vast desert plain of the
Food, drinking water, building materials and clothing are brought in by car by international aid agencies.
The refugee population is plagued by the lack of vegetables, nutritious food and medicines. According to the
Heavy flash rains and floods destroyed much of the camps in February 2006, prompting a crisis response from the
The WFP has repeatedly expressed its concern over a shortage of donations, and warned of dire health consequences if needs are not met.[18][19] The UNHCR warned in early 2007 that demands were not being met in the Sahrawi camps, and that malnutrition was severe.[20] Refugees International has noted that the situation is especially precarious in Dakhla, the most inaccessible of the camps.[21]
In October 2015, heavy rainfalls flooded the refugee camps again, destroying houses (made of sand-bricks), tents and food provisions. More than 11,000 families were affected.[22]
The European Commission refers to the Sahrawi refugees as the "forgotten refugees".[23]
Women's role
Polisario has attempted to
The role of Sahrawi women was central already in pre-colonial and colonial life, but was strengthened further during the war years (1975–1991), when Sahrawi women ran most of the camps' administration, while the men were fighting at the front.
Two women who had been residents of the camps however claimed that women in the refugee camps are deprived of their fundamental rights and are victims of exclusion and sexual aggression.[24]
Work and economy
While there are several international organizations (
A simple monetary economy began developing in the camps during the 1990s, after Spain decided to pay pensions to Sahrawis who had been forcibly drafted as soldiers in the Tropas Nómadas during the colonial time. Money also came from Sahrawis working in Algeria or abroad, and from refugees who pursue a traditional bedouin and tuareg lifestyle, herding cattle in Algeria, Mauritania and the Polisario-held areas of Western Sahara. The private economy however remains very limited, and the camps continue to survive mainly on foreign and Algerian aid.[25]
Family separation and human rights
Since the Polisario Front and Morocco are still at war, visits between the camps and the Moroccan-controlled parts of Western Sahara are virtually impossible, with the
While Polisario complains of
The Polisario Front has acknowledged reports of mistreatment in the seventies and eighties, but deny the accusations of on-going abuse. Reports of beatings and torture, in many cases leading to death, of Moroccan
2011 NGO foreign workers abduction
On 23 October 2011, three European humanitarian aid workers were kidnapped in the Rabuni, the administrative center of the refugee camps. The three hostages were two Spanish citizens (Enric Gonyalons and Ainhoa Fernández de Rincón) and an Italian woman (Rossella Urru); all members of humanitarian NGOs.[32] During the abduction, Enric Gonyalons and a Sahrawi guard were wounded by the attackers, who according to POLISARIO sources came from Mali.[33]
At first,
On 26 October,
The kidnapping was widely condemned internationally, for example by the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights[37] or the European Union.[38]
They were set free by the Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (MOJWA) in Gao, Mali on the 18th of July 2012, being transferred to Burkina Faso and later to Spain.[39]
Impact
Poets Hadjatu Aliat Swelm and Hossein Moulud have written about life at the Gdeim Izik protest camp.[40] Najla Mohamed-Lamin was recognised as one of the BBC's 100 women in 2023.[41]
See also
- History of Western Sahara
- The five cities in Western Sahara that give name to the refugee camps:
- Awserd, Cape Bojador
- Independence Intifada (Western Sahara)
References
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"UNHCR Algeria Factsheet". UNHCR. 2010-08-01. Archivedfrom the original on 2011-07-19. Retrieved 2011-06-26.
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Eric Goldstein; Bill Van Esveld, eds. (2008). Human Rights in Western Sahara and in the Tindouf Refugee Camps. Human Rights Watch. p. 216. ISBN 978-1-56432-420-7. Archivedfrom the original on 2015-06-13. Retrieved 2016-12-04.
- ^ a b c d "Protracted Relief and Recovery Operation (PRRO) Algeria, PRRO 200034" (PDF). World Food Programme. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2011-10-07. Retrieved 2011-06-26.
- ^ Van Brunt Smith, Danielle (August 2004). "Causes and consequences" (PDF). FMO Research Guide, Western Sahara. FMO, Refugee Studies Centre, University of Oxford: 12–19. Archived from the original on 2012-07-28. Retrieved 2012-12-06.
- ^ a b c d Western Sahara. Living in the refugee camps. OXFAM Belgium and Comite belge de soutien au peuple sahraoui. 1995. Archived from the original on 2007-10-30. Retrieved 2007-11-19.
- ^ Fiddian-Qasmiyeh, Elena (May 2011). "Protracted Sahrawi displacement" (PDF). Refugee Studies Centre.
- ^ a b c d Gina Crivello; Elena Fiddian; Dawn Chatty (December 2005). "Background to the Western Sahara Conflict". FMO, Refugee Studies Centre, University of Oxford. Archived from the original on 2011-07-24. Retrieved 2007-11-19.
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"Country Operations Plan: Algeria. Planning year: 2007" (PDF). UNHCR. 2006. Archived(PDF) from the original on 2007-06-12. Retrieved 2007-11-19.
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{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link - ^ "Western Saharan refugee students in Cuba". ARSO / UNHCR. September 2005. Archived from the original on 2007-10-31. Retrieved 2007-11-19.
- ^ "USCRI World Refugee Survey". 2009. Archived from the original on 2013-06-04.
- ^ "UNHCR Global Report, Mauritania, p. 153". 2009. Archived from the original on 2012-10-15. Retrieved 2011-06-26.
- ^ "Western Sahara (Report on Human Rights Practices)". USSD. 2007. Retrieved 2017-06-25.
- ^ "Identification of Eligible Voters". MINURSO. Archived from the original on 2007-02-19.
- ^ "Country of Origin Information Report. Algeria" (PDF). UK Border Agency. 2008-09-30. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2011-07-16. Retrieved 2011-06-26.
- ^ "Africa :: Algeria — The World Factbook - Central Intelligence Agency". www.cia.gov. Retrieved 2020-04-18.
- ^ "WFP assists Sahrawi refugees hit by torrential rains". World Food Programme. 2006-02-16. Archived from the original on 2011-05-20. Retrieved 2011-06-26.
- ^ "Sahrawi plight must not be forgotten, warns WFP chief". WFP. 2006-11-13. Archived from the original on 2011-06-17. Retrieved 2011-06-26.
- ^ "Shortage of donations impact Sahrawi refugees in Algeria". 2006-10-26. Archived from the original on 2011-06-17. Retrieved 2011-06-26.
- ^ "UNHCR-WFP team finds dire health conditions in Algerian refugee camps". UNHCR. 2007-02-12. Archived from the original on 2007-06-12. Retrieved 2007-11-19.
- ^ "Dakhla Refugee Camp for Saharawis: The Farthest Reaches of a Desert Wasteland". Archived from the original on September 28, 2007.
- ^ "Heavy rainfalls damage Sahrawi refugee camps". Oxfam Solidarity, 22/10/2015. http://www.oxfamsol.be/fr/crise-des-refugies-sahraouis-des-inondations-ravagent-les-camps Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Algeria". 3 October 2013. Archived from the original on 2018-04-26. Retrieved 2018-04-25.
- ^ "Menara - Menara.ma, le portail du Maroc - actualité, offres d'emploi, petites annonces, pages Jaunes, musique, blogs, cinéma - Menara.ma". Archived from the original on 2014-09-15. Retrieved 2014-09-14.
- ^ Van Brunt Smith, Danielle (August 2004). "Needs and responses" (PDF). FMO Research Guide, Western Sahara. FMO, Refugee Studies Centre, University of Oxford: 19–22. Archived from the original on 2012-07-28. Retrieved 2012-12-06.
- ^ "Western Sahara: UN's family visits exchange scheme set to shift to second city". 2004-04-02. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2017-06-29.
- ^ "UNHCR and MINURSO initiate confidence building measures in Western Sahara". 2003-03-29. Archived from the original on 2013-03-09. Retrieved 2017-06-29.
- ^ "Fact-Finding Mission to Algiers and the Sahrawi Refugee Camps Near Tindouf, Algeria". Canadian Lawyers Association For International Human Rights (CLAIHR). June 1997. Archived from the original on 2007-11-08. Retrieved 2007-11-19.
- ^ "Keeping it secret. The United Nations operation in the Western Sahara". Human Rights Watch. 1995. Archived from the original on 2016-03-05. Retrieved 2016-12-04.
- ^ "Report of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) about the mission of May/June 2006 in Western Sahara and Algeria". OHCHR. 2006. Archived from the original on 2007-10-11. Retrieved 2007-11-19.
- ^ "Polisario calls on UN to supervise human rights in territories under its control". Sahara Press Service. 2010-04-06. Archived from the original on 2012-03-26. Retrieved 2011-06-26.
- ^ a b AFP (23 October 2011). "Le Polisario accuse Aqmi d'avoir enlevé trois Européens dans un camp sahraoui". France24. Archived from the original on 24 December 2011. Retrieved 7 December 2011.
- Magharebia, 25 October 2011
- Magharebia, 24 October 2011
- Magharebia, 2 November 2011
- ^ Algerian soldiers kill four suspected of kidnapping Spanish aid workers Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine El País, 26 October 2011
- ^ Communiqué on the abduction of three humanitarian NGO workers from Sahrawi Refugee Camps Archived 2013-01-19 at the Wayback Machine Achpr.org, 31 October 2011
- ^ Answer given by High Representative/Vice-President Ashton on behalf of the Commission European Parliament, 22 February 2012
- ^ Spaniards freed by terrorists in Mali after nine months Archived 2012-08-02 at the Wayback Machine El País, 18 July 2012
- ^ Berkson, Samuel; Sulaiman, Mohamed (2015). Settled Wanderers. London: Influx Press, pp. 44, 48.
- ^ "BBC: la Sahraouie Najla Mohamed-Lamin sur la liste des 100 femmes influentes de 2023". Algeria Press Service (in French). 21 November 2023. Archived from the original on 4 December 2023. Retrieved 21 February 2024.
External links
- Photos from the Sahrawi refugee camps in Tindouf and from the "liberated territories" in Western Sahara, by Nacho Hernandez.
- Photo gallery: Life in the Tindouf refugee camps, by Danielle Van Brunt Smith. Archived 2011-08-09 at the Wayback Machine
- Eye witness report from Tindouf By ECHO, the EU:s foreign aid branch.
- Article about the 35th anniversary of the proclamation of SADR, held in the Tindouf camps and Tifariti
- Map of the region (anonymous).
- The United States on Algeria Archived 2004-08-17 at the Wayback Machine.
- Opinion Editorial by Paul de Bendern, February 2004. Archived 2004-08-16 at the Wayback Machine