An anniversary celebrated in the Rabouni camp which hosts the headquarters of the Polisario leadership has turned sour.
The Polisario Front leader, Mohamed Abdelaziz, surrounded by his staff and a delegation of Algerian officials were gathered in a building in Rabouni to celebrate the 43th anniversary of the so-called “Zamla insurgency” when hundreds of uninvited guests invaded the building.
The celebration ceremony was unfolding as planned, when nearly 400 young Sahrawis forced the security cordon and entered into the building, said a tribe leader who was attending the ceremony.
The rebellious and untamed young protesters were chanting slogans against the Polisario and its leaders and were brandishing placards asking Abdelaziz to “Go.”

The demonstrators were denouncing “the hard” living conditions imposed on Sahrawi populations in Tindouf camps, the illicit enrichment of the Polisario leaders and slavery which still exists in the Tindouf camps. Frightened, Mohamed Abdelaziz, his lieutenants and his Algerian guests have had no other choice than flee through the emergency exit, escorted by their security officers.
After brief clashes between the protesters and the guests who were still seated in the hall, the Polisario armed militia intervened to disperse the demonstrators, using batons. Many young Sahrawis who refused to leave the premises were arrested and sent to unknown detention centers.
Reports from other camps in Tindouf say the Polisario, fearing an uprising on the part of the families of the young protesters, deprived these families of their usual food rations and placed their homes under constant surveillance of security forces.