Rabat – Moroccan parliamentarians, members of the Morocco-EU joint parliamentary commission addressed today an open letter to members of the European Parliament, urging them to take necessary actions to pressure Algeria into ending the “illegal situation” of the Tindouf camps.
Pointing out the separatist Polisario Front’s chronic mistreatment of distressed Tindouf refugees, the letter called on the EU to intervene to provide the Sahrawi people with “free movement and free access to the Algerian justice system.”
Recalling the universality of human rights and Morocco’s recent achievements in the field despite lingering challenges, the Moroccan parliamentarians expressed their willingness to discuss the human rights situation in Morocco with their European colleagues.
“We would like, at the same time, and in the spirit of the “non-selective” nature of human rights, to draw your attention to the dire situation of human rights in the Tindouf Camps, in South-Western Algeria, wherein so-called ‘refugees’ are warehoused for decades,” the open letter added. The document was signed by Lahcen Haddad, co-President of the joint parliamentary Morocco-European Commission.
Raising concerns about the situation of Moroccan Sahrawis in the Tindouf camps, the politicians noted the difference in status given to the Tindouf population by the North African countries with Algeria considering them “refugees” on its soil while Morocco perceives them as “‘sequestrated populations’ detained against their will in the camps.”
Despite being considered “refugees,” the diplomats noted that Algeria has not treated them in accordance with the provisions of the 1951 Geneva convention or the 1967 protocol relevant to them. They further argued that Algeria is monitoring and limiting the free movements of people in the Tindouf camps, in defiance of the “spirit and letter of international law on refugees.”
As Algeria has failed to respond to the calls of UNHCR and the UN Security Council for counting and registering the Sahrawi “refugees,” the UNHCR confirmed in a 2018 note that the camps’ population reached 90,000.
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As ambiguity over the number of Tindouf populations continues, the Moroccan parliamentarians said that Polisario officials have faced accusations of selling humanitarian aid meant for the Sahrawi people in the black market in southern Algeria and the Sahel region.
They also recalled the 2015 findings of the European Union’s Anti-Fraud Office, which. reported that the EU humanitarian aid “has been regularly misappropriated by the Polisario for activities such as the purchase of arms.”
The same issue was also discussed in a motion of resolution issued by members of the European Parliament in July 2020.
Another key topic raised in the open letter is the illegal status of child soldiers trained in the Tindouf camps.
“When the United Nations Secretary‑General Personal Envoy for Western Sahara, Staffan de Mistura, visited the Tindouf Camps on January 15, 2022, he was greeted by a child soldier, a photo that shocked the international community,” the letter said.
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Given the international prohibition of child soldiers, the Moroccan officials referred to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict (OPAC) to support their claims.
The convention provides a legal framework for the conditions of recruiting young soldiers into the military. The document prohibits the conscription of children younger than 18 into the military, stating that military recruits must be 16-year-old or older with the recruits aged 16 or 17 prevented from taking part in any acts of hostility.
The prohibitions extend to non-governmental organizations as well.
Yet these conditions are not followed by the Polisario separatist group, an argument that Morocco, multiple UN organizations, NGOs, and the European parliament have consistently — and rightly — raised against Algeria, the Moroccan parliamentarians said.
In such a context, the Moroccan MPs urged the European Parliament Subcommittee on Human Rights (DROI) to initiate “a full investigation of the illegal use of child soldiers by the Polisario, an entity that administers EU Humanitarian Aid as received by the Algerian Government.”
They concluded, “This is a call of conscience to all of Europe, the beacon of rights and freedom, to act and alleviate the suffering of the sequestrated populations in the Tindouf Camps, in Western Algeria.”
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