The Movement Saharawi for Peace holds its General Assembly and publishes an open letter to the Algerian government

The Movement Saharawi for Peace (MSP) held its General Assembly on 1 and 2 June, chaired by the first secretary, Hach Ahmed Bericalla, and attended by members of the Permanent Political Committee, the Central Committee, and the main cadres of the movement, including the heads and deputies of the committees, coordinators and other bodies, as well as their representatives abroad. 

The participants discussed the programmes and work carried out during the last four years, coinciding with the fourth anniversary of the movement. They took stock of the important achievements and activities with emphasis on the results of the 2nd International Conference for Dialogue and Peace held last October in Dakar (Senegal). 

The participants listened to the report presented by the head of External Relations, Mohamed Cherif, regarding the last tour of a delegation of the MSP in the Southern Cone and the solidarity work done by the International Committee for Dialogue and Peace. 

The first secretary insisted on the need for the cadres of the Movement to respect the official discourse and the vision of the SPM by spreading the road map announced in Dakar among Saharawi public opinion. 

During the meeting, the participants approved the content of an open letter to the Algerian state urging the government of the North African country to instruct its armed forces not to use firearms against young Saharawis as happened on 28 May last, when a drone killed several young people searching for gold near the Saharawi refugee camp of Dakhla. It also calls on the Algerian government to exert its influence on the leadership of the Polisario Front to open a Saharawi dialogue with the participation of other political forces, tribal leaders and representatives of Saharawi society. 

We urge Algeria to use all its influence and power to persuade the stubborn Polisario leadership to open a real and honest debate and to seek, among all, a peaceful solution with the Kingdom of Morocco. There is no other way forward if a fatal outcome to the current crisis is to be avoided. Algeria can no longer do more than it has done for the Saharawis for half a century, the letter points out.

Full text of the letter from the MSP to the Algerian government: 

Open letter to the Algerian government. 

‘Algeria can do no more than it has done for the Saharawis for more than half a century. The Polisario has squandered the accumulated achievements of fifty years of resistance and sacrifices with the unconditional support of Algeria’. 

TEXT: 

On 28 May last, several young Sahrawis lost their lives when they were attacked by an Algerian army drone in the vicinity of the Sahrawi refugee camp of Dakhla, 160 km southeast of the Algerian city of Tindouf. These young people, desperate because of the lack of employment and the needs of their families, were searching for gold with rudimentary means. This is not the first time that young Sahrawis have been shot in the area by Algerian patrols, but it is the first time that war drones have intervened to combat these activities. We urge the Algerian high authorities to instruct their armed forces to avoid excesses and the use of firearms in similar circumstances. 

These events are further evidence of the state of hopelessness that pervades the young people in the refugee camps, overwhelmed by lack of work and poverty. Discontent is growing among them and the situation is becoming increasingly untenable. The general unrest and discontent is growing steadily, reaching unprecedented levels. In order to avoid greater tragedies, it is imperative that viable alternatives and solutions be sought as soon as possible. 

We urge Algeria to use all its influence and power to persuade the intransigent Polisario leadership to open a real and sincere internal debate if a fatal outcome of the current crisis is to be avoided. The Saharawis can no longer be asked to make more sacrifices, more bloodshed, more hardship, more pain, more patience. Nor can Algeria do more than it has done for the Saharawis for more than half a century. 

The intransigence of the Polisario leadership, as well as its refusal to allow for renewal and necessary changes, together with impulsive decisions, hasty and misguided strategies, abuses of authority, outrages, as well as disregard for freedoms and critical voices, have completely squandered the accumulated achievements of fifty years of resistance and sacrifices with Algeria's unconditional support. 

The new leadership of the Algeria of 2024 must take into account, from a global and objective perspective, that the majority of Saharawis no longer feel represented by Polisario and that a high percentage of its militants have left its ranks, as they no longer believe in or view with favour an independent republic under that regime. 

Today, instead of trust and faith in Polisario's leadership and project, what holds the population of the refugee camps in Tindouf back is absolute dependence on humanitarian aid, as well as the lack of prospects for a normal and dignified life elsewhere. The imminent threat of a human stampede from this hell is a real and credible possibility. 

Algeria can no longer ignore the crisis situation facing the former Sahrawi resistance, nor can it shirk its political and moral responsibility at a crucial and historic moment such as the present. If it is really concerned about the suffering of the Sahrawi people - as the Algerian foreign minister, Ahmed Attaf, said on 25 May - it must immediately convince the old Polisario leaders that times have changed, that guerrilla wars and armed revolutions, as well as the system of parties and one-track thinking, are things of the past. In the 21st century, democratic debate and dialogue are indispensable, as repressive methods to silence widespread discontent, dissent and critical or dissenting opinions have proven to be futile and counterproductive. 

We believe that the Algerian government has the prestige and moral authority to promote and sponsor a fully democratic and sincere Sahrawi dialogue, with the participation of political organisations and currents, tribal notables, representatives of civil society, dissidents and survivors of the repression of Camp Rashid. In short, a dialogue of Sahrawi society as a whole, which is much broader and more diverse than it is made out to be and whose heart beats in many more places beyond the Tindouf camps. 

Just as it did to unify the Azawad factions, the Algerian government can and must convince the Polisario leaders in Tindouf to modify their radical discourse and contain their totalitarian impulses, open a real democratic debate and work towards a Sahrawi consensus on the best strategy. And this is none other than to put an end to the disastrous and useless war and, among all of us, to strive for a just, peaceful and negotiated solution with the Kingdom of Morocco with the appropriate international guarantees. 

Once resolved, the Saharawi dispute will cease to be a source of tension and instability and the peoples of our region, including the Saharawi people, will move towards the desired and a hundred times postponed integration.  This is the path of reason and wisdom, for time is running out, discontent is growing and the crisis is getting worse and worse. 

MSP General Assembly (2/06/2024)