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Rabat – A Spanish delegation exploring the Laayoune-Sakia El Hamra has held a series of talks with regional representatives regarding the Western Sahara conflict. The talks centered around the lingering conflict and the dire conditions Sahrawis suffer within the Polisario-run Tindouf camps in Algeria.
The delegation is holding a series of communication meetings with local officials and sheikhs of tribes (local representatives) in the Laayoune province.
The delegation met with the Secretary General at Laayoune Sakia El Hamra governorate Brahim Boutmilat. The meeting served as an opportunity to discuss the “strong” diplomatic relations between Spain and Morocco in different sectors.
Sheikhs of Sahrawi tribes also held meetings with the Spanish delegation, emphasizing their attachment to Morocco and its territorial integrity.
The delegation and locals discussed the Western Sahara conflict, recalling Algeria’s hostile stance that seeks to undermine Morocco’s sovereignty over the region and threaten the country’s security and stability.
The locals also reiterated their support for Morocco’s 2007 Autonomy Plan as a “constructive democratic” political solution that enjoys international support.
The Moroccan representatives of tribes in the region emphasized that the autonomy initiative is giving Sahrawis the “opportunity to manage their affairs on their own.”
The representatives in the region emphasized the stability and security the population in the region enjoy, as well as development and economic projects that the southern provinces have experienced in recent years.
The Spanish delegation and locals in the region also discussed Sahrawis’ suffering in the Tindouf camps, a Polisario-run area in Algeria.
Algeria finances, arms, trains, and supports Polisario, a separatist group that claims independence over the Western Sahara region.
The southern regional representatives and locals recalled the situation of Sahrawis in the camps, where they are “deprived of the most basic rights,” in flagrant violation of international human rights conventions.
Several reports and statements by NGOs have warned the international community about the dire situation of Sahrawis in the Tindouf camps.
Several UN reports have stressed the need for efforts to combat challenges Sahrawis face in the camps, including disease and food insecurity.
The Polisario Front has been linked to structural cases of embezzlement of humanitarian aid to the benefit of the militia’s top leadership.
A European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) report in 2015 exposed the embezzlement of humanitarian aid intended for refugees in the Polisario-run camps.
The report, covering the 2003-2007 period, shows that the separatist group’s leadership has long been directly involved in selling the camp’s humanitarian aid in Mauritanian and sub-Saharan markets, for the purpose of buying weapons.
Local representatives also spoke about Polisario’s “misleading” approaches to share misinformation regarding the situation in Morocco’s southern provinces.
Locals emphasized that the Polisario Front seeks to “cover up their crimes” and prevent people in Tindouf from returning to their homeland, according to state media news agency MAP.
The Spanish delegation was accompanied by the Consul General of Morocco in Murcia Sidi Mohammed Biadillah. The delegation includes Antonio Vicente Fray Sanchez, historian and university professor at the University of Murcia Gonzalo Sanchez Alvarez Castellanos, photographer and designer and Paulino Ross, journalist at the Regional Radio of Murcia.
