Polisario loses another senior UN official in Algeria

The Polisario has lost another senior UN official based in Algeria. Brahim Ghali, the movement’s leader, held a farewell ceremony on Monday in the Tindouf camps to mark the end of the mandate of Alistair Alan Boulton, the representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Algiers.

Appointed in the autumn of 2022, the Canadian official stood out for his repeated calls to increase humanitarian aid to the Tindouf camps. «We need $100 million a year to help Sahrawi refugees», he told Algerian media in November 2022.

«During his tenure, Alistair Alan Boulton notably used his influence to have any mention of fund embezzlement involving the Polisario Red Crescent or the Algerian authorities removed from a report published in March 2023 by a WFP (World Food Programme) mission tasked with assessing food needs in the camps», a source close to the matter told Yabiladi. The UN official consistently praised Algeria for «hosting Sahrawi and African refugees». He repeated that message on Monday in an interview with the daily El Watan.

His departure comes seven months after the UN removed Youssef Jedian, the former head of MINURSO’s liaison office in the Tindouf camps. Some voices within the Polisario at the time attributed the decision to an alleged intervention by Morocco.