Rabat – Moroccan Government Spokesperson Mustapha El Khalfi spoke out about the alleged unbearable living conditions in Tindouf camps under which thousands of Sahrawis live in Algeria.
El Khalfi made his remarks at the screening of “Life Rubbing Shoulders with Death” or “Vie Cotoyant la Mort” in French, a Moroccan documentary depicting the situation of Sahrawis in the Tindouf camps.
El Khalfi told reporters at the movie screening that what Sahrawis are exposed to “requires us to work on and to sensitize [people about it] as an integral part of our memory.”
He added that the work and research of Moroccan youth is “evidence of the cultural attachment to defend the issue of territorial integrity.”
Read Also: Number of Most Vulnerable Refuges in Tindouf Camps is 90,000: UNHCR
El Khalfi added that Western Sahara, referred to in Morocco as the national cause, “does not need permission to defend it, it is an issue of cultural depth for all Moroccans.”
The documentary was screened for the first time on Saturday in Rabat.
The documentary won a prize on December 23, 2018, at the closing ceremony of Laayoune’s fourth Festival of Sahrawi-Hassani Culture, History, and Environment.
The 90-minute film was directed by Moroccan Lahcen Majid. It tells the story of six Moroccans, five men and one woman, who recount the suffering they experienced at the hands of the Polisario Front in the Tindouf camps in the Algerian desert and how they managed to escape.
The documentary is based on testimonies from former detainees who say they were constantly tortured.
