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Article: Morocco out!(Letter to the editor)
- Article from:
- New Internationalist
- Article date:
- January 1, 2006
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2006 New Internationalist Magazine. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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2005 saw the 30th anniversary of the invasion of Western Sahara by troops from Morocco and Mauritania, a tragedy largely forgotten by the wider world [see The Unreported Year supplement with this magazine].
Since 1975 more than half the population of Western Sahara has been forced into exile in camps around Tindouf in Algeria. Conditions in this region are harsh in the extreme; the ground is barren and stony and there is little rain. Families living in these camps are wholly dependent on external aid, 40 per cent of Saharawi children are malnourished and many suffer from brittle bones and stunted growth.
Since May 2005 Saharawi ...