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To avoid the spread of the novel coronavirus, Algeria has imposed a series of preventive measures that have seriously worsened the living conditions of Sahrawis living in the Tinduf camps. To complain against the new situation, voices within the camps started pointing at the responsibility of Algiers during these difficult times. These angry voices found their way to an open letter addressed at the Algerian President Abdelmajid Tebboune.
Its author, who lives in Sweden, is anything but close to Morocco. The letter, written with deference, begins by informing Abdelmajid Tebboune that «for fifteen days no water tanker truck has arrived in the camps» and then addressed the problem of food shortages in the camps.
In his letter, the man asked the Algerian president to «review the Algerian support allocated to the Sahrawi refugees», proposing «to reflect on its development in the form of financial subsidies granted directly to the refugees to buy what they need».
The letter did not ignore the case of a hundred of Sahrawis stranded in «the liberated territories (...) since the closure of the Algerian border and the tightening of procedures at the Mauritanian border. This deprives them of the necessary sources of supplies».
The Polisario responds by lauding Algeria's «solidarity»
The letter only expressed out loud what many Sahrawis share with each other inside their tents or on social media. Its author made a point of mentioning it at the start of his message.
«For the majority of the population, the situation is critical. Lacking financial resources, they cannot buy water or food. This is what, moreover, summed up Said Zeroual's letter well. Since the start of the crisis, Morocco has announced that it is ready to provide humanitarian aid to camp residents, but Algeria has rejected it», a source in the Sahara told us.
It seems that the letter addressed to President Abdelmajid Tebboune was not welcomed by the Polisario’s leadership. The latter has immediately reacted to it through its representative in Algiers. Abdekader Taleb Oumar praised, in an indirect update, «the high level of solidarity» of Algeria with the Front «and this despite the number of challenges the country is facing because of the spread of the coronavirus pandemic».
