USCRI deplores Algeria's denial of freedom to Tindouf camps detainees
Algeria-USA, Politics, 6/30/2005

The Washington-based US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI) has deplored that the Moroccans sequestered by the "Polisario" in Tindouf camps, southern Algeria, are denied the freedom of movement.

The "World Refugee Survey 2005" highlights that the Moroccans sequestered in the Tindouf camps "do not enjoy the right of freedom of movement," deploring that "those who manage to leave the refugee camps without being authorized to do so are often arrested by the Algerian military and returned to the Polisario authorities, with whom they cooperate closely on matters of security."

The "Polisario" is an Algeria-backed movement that claims the separation of the Sahara (Morocco's southern provinces) from the rest of the country. It sequesters thousands of Moroccans in the Tindouf camps.

The survey went on to stress that "the Polisario checkpoints surrounded the camps, the Algerian military guarded entry into Tindouf, and police operated checkpoints throughout the country," pointing out that the Algerian authorities issue passports to "those the Polisario permitted to travel abroad."

The survey also questions Algeria's estimation of the Tindouf "refugees," which claims these are 165,000, saying that they are only 98,000.

Quoting an Amnesty International report, the survey asserts that the Moroccans sequestered are "almost totally dependent on international relief from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the World Food Programme (WFP).

Touching on the health situation in the camps, the survey quotes a 2002 study of the Institute for Child Health that indicates that "nearly 11 percent of children under five suffered from wasting and/or oedema and more than 30 percent from stunted growth."

The survey admits that the USCRI had, in its 2004 survey, said "inadvertently" that the Moroccans sequestered in Tindouf camps enjoyed "freedom of movement."

USCRI is a non-profit NGO, which carries out, since 1911, actions to address the needs and rights of refugees, immigrants, asylum seekers and displaced persons throughout the world.

Previous Stories:
  US encourages Morocco, Algeria to jointly seek political solution to Sahara issue, Burns   (5/14/2004)
  Burns discusses in Algeria the Greater Middle East initiative   (5/12/2004)
  US encourages Morocco and Algeria to carry on efforts for quest of Sahara issue solution   (12/5/2003)

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