About the Project
What is Project Tindouf?
Welcome to Project Tindouf! This site is a journalistic project intended to shine light on one of the world's most protracted and ignored refugee crises. After Spain's withdrawal from what was then the colony of Spanish Sahara in 1975, most of the territory was invaded by Morocco, which continues to occupy the territory to this day.
The Moroccan invasion led to a massive displacement of Sahrawi people to the neighboring countries. While 26,000 Sahrawi refugees currently live in Mauritania, the vast majority of the Sahrawi diaspora, 90,000 people, live in Algeria, according to the United Nations High Comissioner for Refugees. These refugees live in five refugee camps in Tindouf province, Algeria, that are governed by the Polisario Front, the organization recognized by the UN as the legitimate Sahrawi of the representative people.
Project Tindouf was developed for my capstone project for my Bachelor of Arts in International Studies at American University, but it is also intended to as a hub for information on a conflict that, after years of uneasy calm, is once again flaring up.
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Pablo Molina Asensi
I was born and raised in Spain, where, in 2014, I witnessed Europe's response to the Syrian refugee crisis. This experience led me to pursue my studies in international relations and journalism. During my time at American University, I took classes on issues related to migration, forced displacement, and refugees, and worked at The Eagle, AU's student newspaper. Project Tindouf represents my first attempt at bringing together my two academic interests, in what will hopefully be my first foray into international journalism.