The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Antonio Guterres, who arrived in Algiers yesterday, has called the situation faced by Saharawi refugees ''dramatic''.
''It is a dramatic situation which has continued since 1975'' and ''has been forgotten by the international community'', said the UNHCR official, who after meeting with Algerian authorities will today be visiting Saharawi refugee camps in Tindouf in the southernmost regions of Algeria.
''In this way we hope to draw international attention to the desperate plight of Saharawi refugees,'' APS quoted Guterres as saying, thanking Algeria ''for the protection granted to the Saharawi for such a long time.''
A UNHCR official had not been to Tindouf since 1976, where for over 30 years about 150,000 Saharawi refugees have been living in five camps in the middle of the desert. According to the Algerian headquarters of the UNHCR, Guterres is also set to pay a visit to Layoune, in the territories of the Western Sahara in southern Morocco.
Africa's last colonySince 1975, three quarters of the Western Sahara territory has been illegally occupied by Morocco. The original population lives divided between those suffering human rights abuses under the Moroccan occupation and those living in exile in Algerian refugee camps. For more than 40 years, the Saharawi await the fulfilment of their legitimate right to self-determination.
Since 1975, three quarters of the Western Sahara territory has been illegally occupied by Morocco. The original population lives divided between those suffering human rights abuses under the Moroccan occupation and those living in exile in Algerian refugee camps. For more than 40 years, the Saharawi await the fulfilment of their legitimate right to self-determination.
