The Tindouf camps in southwestern Algeria have been struck by disastrous humanitarian conditions following recent heavy rains that battered the area, causing the collapse of tents and makeshift homes over the heads of the camp residents. This has led to the destruction of their properties and endangered the lives of thousands of families, including children.
These tragic conditions have uncovered the severe and systematic neglect suffered by the camp residents, who have been living in enforced detention for more than fifty years, while the leaders of the Polisario Front live in luxurious palaces and villas both in Algeria and Europe.
The current situation highlights the stark contrast between the lives of the leaders and the detainees, reflecting a significant failure in crisis management by the Polisario leadership and the Algerian regime, who have been unable to provide any form of support or urgent assistance to the affected camp residents.
Residents of the camps have circulated photos and videos on social media documenting the scale of the humanitarian disaster caused by the rains, showing floods that submerged the dwellings and resulted in widespread destruction. This has led the detainees to appeal for immediate intervention from international organizations to save them from these catastrophic conditions that threaten their lives, amidst the Algerian authorities’ disregard for the worsening crisis.
Despite the gravity of the situation, no official Algerian body has intervened to assist the camp residents, showing an official silence that highlights the Algerian regime’s inability to address the worsening humanitarian crisis, exacerbating the suffering of the detainees who have lived in inhumane conditions for decades, deprived of the most basic rights to a dignified life.
International organizations have previously described the conditions in the Tindouf camps as a form of human trafficking, where residents are exploited for political purposes and used as subjects of international pleas to acquire aid, which Polisario officials eventually trade in, adding another dimension to the humanitarian tragedy they face.
The floods that recently hit the camps were not just a natural disaster; they also exposed the fragility of the humanitarian conditions in which Tindouf residents live and the deliberate neglect by the responsible parties, whether at the Polisario or Algerian regime level, who have detained them for half a century.
Despite the Algerian authorities’ attempts to conceal the disaster and hide the extent of the damage in the Tindouf camps, Google Maps clearly confirmed that the floods hit the area, and the threat remains, debunking the military’s attempts to hide the disaster and reflecting the contradiction between the reality documented by technology and the official silence showcasing the regime’s inability to face the crisis and its insistence on hiding the facts from the international community.
