American Samizdat

Saturday, August 31, 2002. *
Refugees face starvation
In 1975, after the death of Franco, Spain withdrew from its Western Sahara colony. It was promptly annexed by Morocco against the wishes of (at least part of) the indigenous population, leading to a decades long guerilla war. During the course of this war, some 155,000 people fled to the borders with Algeria, which is where they're still living in refugee camps. These camps are wholly dependent on humanitarian aid provided via the UN world Food Programme, which is now struggling to get the funds needed to do so, according to a report from AllAfrica.

Since 1991 an UN sponsored ceasefire has been in effect between Morocco and Polisario Front and since then the UN has been trying to hld an referendum on the future of the Western Sahara. Read more about the history of the Western Sahara here.
posted by Martin Wisse at 4:01 AM
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