Doha – The Sahrawi Movement for Peace (MSP) thundered against the Algerian regime following the cold-blooded murder of two young Sahrawis by Algerian soldiers in the Dajla refugee camp, 160 kilometers east of Tindouf.
In an urgent communiqué addressed to the United Nations and MINURSO, the MSP excoriated the “flagrant violations of the most fundamental human rights” that “can no longer be ignored,” demanding immediate intervention to protect civilian refugees held hostage on Algeria’s territory.
“A new tragedy has struck our people: two young Sahrawis were coldly murdered by Algerian soldiers in the refugee camp of Dajla,” the MSP declared. “Lamentably, these atrocities are not isolated incidents. The Sahrawis living in the camps are victims of frequent shootings, intimidations and violent repressions by Algerian forces.”
The movement warned that “this situation has generated a climate of insecurity and constant fear, endangering the daily lives of innocent civilians.”
This savage killing adds to a bloody series of assaults where the Algerian military systematically targets defenseless Sahrawis.
Mere days before, Algerian troops gunned down Sid Ahmed Belali and wounded nine others near the Gara Djebilet mine, leaving three clinging to life in critical condition.
Raw video footage captured enraged protesters confronting their oppressors, with desperate refugees threatening to escape to Morocco, screaming at Algerian soldiers: “Do you want us to go to Morocco? You’re killing our children here in cold blood.”
The MSP’s desperate plea crashes against a backdrop of intensifying global condemnation of the Polisario Front, which rules the camps as Algeria’s puppet regime.
American Enterprise Institute scholar Michael Rubin demanded the UN strip recognition from the Polisario as Sahrawi representatives, denouncing the separatist group as “a vestige of the Cold War” that “no one has ever elected” and that brutally “holds wives and children as hostages to prevent refugee resettlement.”
Tindouf’s open-air prison
The catastrophic humanitarian crisis in Tindouf exploded into international view last month at the 58th UN Human Rights Council session, where multiple NGOs unmasked the horrific reality of systematic kidnappings, torture chambers, child exploitation, and cold-blooded extrajudicial executions rampant throughout the camps.
Eyewitnesses testified that “the geographical isolation of the camps, far from any international monitoring, contributes to aggravating these violations,” with defenseless women and children bearing the brunt of “physical and psychological violence, as well as inhumane living conditions.”
Former detainee El Fadel Braika condemned the “inhumane conditions” in the camps, including forced disappearances and exploitation of child soldiers, while other organizations accused the Polisario of using programs like “Vacations in Peace” as “a cover for child trafficking.”
The MSP vehemently demands inclusion in the UN-led political process on Western Sahara, declaring itself the true voice for “an important part of the Sahrawi population that aspires to a negotiated political solution, away from the violent methods of the Polisario Front.”
“This peaceful and moderate movement represents a significant portion of the Sahrawi population,” stresses the MSP communiqué.
“The exclusion of this realistic and constructive voice would only perpetuate the status quo and the suffering of our people,” the movement thunders, hammering that “lasting peace in the Sahara will not be possible without justice, truth, and a sincere commitment to human rights.”
“We also call on the international community, human rights organizations, and the media to break the silence, denounce these acts of violence, and support the Sahrawi people in their legitimate aspiration for peace and dignity,” the MSP implores in its desperate appeal.
World powers rally behind Morocco
The MSP’s urgent appeal comes as influential US Congressman Joe Wilson spearheads a Republican initiative in the Senate to designate the Polisario Front as a terrorist organization, and as US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has explicitly hailed Morocco’s Autonomy Plan as “the only basis for a just and lasting solution to the dispute.”
Under Secretary Lisa Kenna reaffirmed Washington’s position that “genuine autonomy under Morocco’s sovereignty is the only feasible solution” to the Western Sahara issue.
Just this week, a cascade of European countries reaffirmed support for Morocco’s Autonomy Plan, with France, Spain, Estonia, Moldova, and Croatia all backing Rabat’s proposal during Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita’s diplomatic tour across Europe.
This diplomatic tsunami against Polisario gained further momentum when UN Personal Envoy Staffan de Mistura abruptly abandoned his earlier partition proposal, now acknowledging Morocco’s Autonomy Plan as “the only viable path to a lasting and politically feasible resolution” of the decades-long conflict.
With international sentiment increasingly favoring Morocco’s Autonomy Plan and MSP emerging as a legitimate alternative to the Polisario, pressure is mounting on the Algerian regime to answer for its brutal treatment of Sahrawi refugees under its control.
Read also: Captain Ali Najab, A Hero Who Exposed the Darkness of Polisario’s Crimes
