Join on WhatsApp
Join on Telegram
Rabat – The Spanish political Popular Party (PP) has called on Pedro Sanchez’s government to allocate additional funds to support Sahrawis in the Tindouf camps. The request, however, comes amid well-documented embezzlement of aid by the Polisario Front.
Spanish news outlet El Diario said that Alberto Nunez Feijoo of the PP submitted a non-legislative proposal to the congress, citing the “absolute deterioration of living conditions” affecting Sahrawis in the camps.
The party also cited the World Food Program’s decision to reduce the emergency food rations delivered to Sahrawis since November last year.
Sahrawis in the Tindouf camps, which are controlled by Algeria and run by the Polisario Front, are facing a worsening humanitarian situation.
The camps are plagued by numerous well-documented challenges, including the embezzlement of humanitarian aid intended for the refugees.
The dire situation is exacerbated by the absence of an official census, as Algeria continues to reject and resist international calls for a population count.
With the official absence of this consensus, the true number of Sahrawis remains clear, with estimates placing the population at around 90,000.
These conditions have gravely impacted the well-being of Sahrawis living there.
In 2021, a report from the Tindouf Autonomy Support Forum highlighted the growing concerns over a severe health crisis in the camps, attributing the situation to a lack of medical equipment which were often smuggled rather than reaching those in need.
The report followed a similar report in 2015 by the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF), which exposed the embezzlement of humanitarian aid between 2003 and 2007.
The report further said the Polisario leadership had been selling aid intended for refugees in Mauritania and sub-Saharan markets to finance the purchase of weapons, further exacerbating the suffering of Sahrawis in the camps.
A more recent investigation from the platform Futuro Sahara shows the Polisario Front’s involvement in fuel embezzlement in Tindouf.
The report’s findings detail how fuel provided monthly by Algeria is being diverted for illicit purposes by members of the Polisario Front.
“The secret dealings in the file converting Algerian state donations to Sahrawi refugees into a vast source of wealth for some members of the Sahrawi leadership, both military and civilian, close to the [so-called] president, are being exposed,” the investigative report released earlier this month said.
The Algerian regime provides the Polisario Front’s self-styled Ministry of Defense with approximately 340 tons of fuel monthly, with potential increases upon request.
