UNHCR makes landmark visit to sahrawi refugee camp

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) António Guterres visited Sahrawi refugees in the Algerian governorate of Tindouf last week as part of an effort to reunite families separated by the Western Sahara conflict.

Guterres, whose five-day tour of Algeria and Morocco ended Saturday (September 12th), said the UNHCR's proposal for a direct, straight-line land corridor between Tindouf and Laâyoune had been accepted as the best solution by all parties.

So far, 8,000 people have been on such visits, said Guterres, who on Saturday attended one such reunion. According to MAP, 33 people from seven families flew from the Moroccan city of Es Smara to Tindouf on a UN aircraft, which brought another 33 people from five families to Morocco.

"These visits have tremendous humanitarian importance," Guterres said.

This was the 27th exchange of family visits this year, according to official data, but Guterres said 42,000 people were still on the waiting list.

During his trip, Guterres expressed the wish that a political solution be found to the Western Sahara question because, he said, humanitarian aid can only have a palliative effect, whereas a political settlement would be once and for all.

Last week's visit was only the second to the camps in Tindouf by a United Nations High Commissioner. The first was made by Saddrudin Aga Khan in 1976, just after the refugees' arrival.

After discussions on Tuesday with Algerian Minister for Maghreb and African Affairs Abdelkader Messahel, Guterres hailed Algeria's "generosity" in granting protection to Sahrawi refugees over such a long period of time.

At the Friday press conference, Guterres said Algeria had asked for more humanitarian aid to the Tindouf camps, as the present levels are insufficient.

However, "the UNHCR has replied that any increase will remain linked to a census of the population in these camps," said Guterres. "Algeria does not accept this, and we have not revised our estimate [of the refugee population's size]."

By Polisario estimates, over 165,000 Sahrawis live in Tindouf; the UNHCR says it provides aid to 90,000 "vulnerable" refugees there, without providing a total number.

Guterres said the proposed census had nothing to do with political considerations, but was simply a humanitarian measure needed until a solution could be found to the Western Sahara question.

For his part, Polisario leader Mohamed Abdelaziz said he was convinced that his movement would derive "some benefit" from the UNHCR's "new vitality", according to the Sahrawi press agency SPS.

Abdelaziz described the visit as a "great gesture of solidarity during this holy month of Ramadan, which will no doubt have a positive impact in relieving the suffering of Sahrawi refugees".

Moroccan Minister for Foreign Affairs and Co-operation Taïb Fassi Fihri said that Morocco will do all it can to increase the number of family visits.

To accomplish this, "a technical study will be carried out to look into the land-based solution", he said.

MAP quoted Fassi Fihri as saying, "We need the UNHCR, not only to carry out the humanitarian mandate of the agency, but also to help us find a lasting solution" to the situation in the Tindouf camps.