Border tensions affect farmers - 31st March 2021

A border standoff between Morocco and Algeria is impacting date farmers in the Moroccan town of Figuig. The farmers had been permitted to tend to their date groves in Algeria despite the border closing in 1994.

However, Algeria has now withdrawn that right and troops stationed on the border are blocking Moroccans' entrance into the country. The decision is believed to be linked to the disagreement between the two nations over the Western Sahara.

Morocco has occupied the Western Sahara since 1975. The invasion forced many of the country's native Sahrawi people across the border into Algeria, increasing tensions between the two states. A year later, the Sahrawi Polisario Front declared the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), which is recognised by many countries, including Algeria.

However, Morocco regards the Western Sahara as part of its sovereign territory. Recognition of this claim by the Trump administration has fuelled tensions with Algeria. Now, hundreds of kilometres away in Figuig, the drama between Algeria and Morocco is impacting residents of the frontier town.

Without the ability to harvest their dates, the farmers will be unable to make ends meet. Algeria has claimed that rule breaking farmers and drug gangs have forced it to shut the border.

Regardless of the reason, the move puts the farmers' livelihoods at risk. While there are date palms on the Moroccan side, the trees in Algeria, many of which were planted by the farmers' grandparents, produce better harvests.