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|Glaring Lack of Access To Water in Tindouf camps Raised Before CDH

The glaring lack of access to drinking water and sanitation, suffered by the populations held captive in the Tindouf camps, was raised on Wednesday before the UN Human Rights Council (HRC).

Speaking during the CDH debate on item 3 of its agenda, the activist and professor of medicine, Brahim El Ahmadi, drew the council's attention to the urgency of the problem of the lack of access to water for Sahrawi detainees. "These vulnerable communities are forced to live in precarious conditions with limited access to drinking water," he lamented, addressing in particular the Special Rapporteur on the rights to drinking water and sanitation, Pedro Arrojo-Agudo. In this context, he explained that water, drawn from untreated wells, is transported to rusty tanks, then stored in plastic reservoirs under a blazing sun, leading to the contamination of this vital material by plastic particles and other chemicals harmful to health. "These conditions indeed explain the increase in cases of cancer in recent years," noted Mr. El Ahmadi. This human rights activist also pointed out the insufficiency of daily water rations, which are around 03 liters per person, as being the cause of serious hygiene problems, aggravated by the discharge of wastewater, with the resulting worsening of several diseases including cholera and typhoid. In this regard, he urged the Special Rapporteur and the international community to "take urgent measures to ensure that the host country of the camps assumes its responsibilities to guarantee the right of the detainees to drinking water and decent sanitary conditions". News and events on Western Sahara issue/ CORCAS

   
9/20/2024   Back Print
 

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