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Rabat – A recent investigation has shed new light on the persistent issue that has been known but largely ignored: Fuel and aid embezzlement in the Algerian-controlled Tindouf camps run by the Polisario Front.
The investigation by the platform Futuro Sahara shows how fuel provided monthly by Algeria is being diverted for illicit purposes by members of the Polisario Front’s leadership.
“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 reads.
Futuro Sahara reports that this embezzlement case also reached a level of complicity between the Polisario Front leadership and drug traffickers.
The investigation findings accuse Polisario leader Brahim Ghali’s associates of exploiting border points between Algeria and its neighbor to “drain Algeria’s main resource unjustly.”
According to the investigation, 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.
The report finds that the fuel initially intended to be distributed in several sectors across Tindouf is being manipulated.
“Some tons are withdrawn and purchased from distribution stations in Tindouf, then traded in the Shahid al-Hafid market, causing demand and prices to soar,” the investigation added.
Futuro Sahara also suggests that some fuel is also sold to MINURSO, the UN peacekeeping operation in Western Sahara. The findings assert that the Polisario sells MINURSO the fuel within a $365,000 annual contract.
This revenue directly benefits the Polisario Front’s leadership through a relative responsible for coordination with MINURSO. “This influence also extends to military supplies managed by Ibrahim Ghali’s brother, with monthly allocations of 30 tons, with revenues going to Ghali’s brother,” the report asserts.
This investigation is not the first to expose embezzlement involving the Polisario Front under Algeria’s watch.
Several reports have previously highlighted similar issues, documenting the misuse of aid intended for Sahrawis, who suffer from severe malnutrition, the spread of disease, and other inhumane living conditions within the Tindouf camps.
In 2021, a report from Tindouf Autonomy Support Forum conveyed Sahrawi’s concerns about the severe health crisis in the camps, further attributing the crisis to the lack of medical equipment and supplies, which were being smuggled at the expense of those in need.
Another report by the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) in 2015 also exposed the embezzlement of humanitarian aid intended for refugees in the Polisario-run camps.
The report covers the 2003-2007 period, showing that separatist group leadership has long been directly involved in selling humanitarian aid provided in the Mauritanian and sub-Saharan markets, for the purpose of buying weapons.
