Farmers mourn date groves - 31st March 2021

Moroccan farmers in an isolated oasis on the Algerian border are bearing the brunt of regional tensions after they were expelled from the date groves they have tended for generations.

Officially, the border between the two countries hasn't been open in over 25 years, but residents of the frontier town of Figuig had been granted exceptions and crossed to cultivate their dates. However, Algeria has now rescinded that privilege, deploying the armed forces to enforce the restrictions.

The move is thought to be related to animosity between the two countries over Morocco’s occupation of the Western Sahara, which it annexed in 1975. This drove many of the country's native Sahrawi to seek refuge in Algeria, stoking tensions between the two nations.

1976 saw the Sahrawi Polisario Front proclaim the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), whose legitimacy is acknowledged by a wealth of nations including Algeria, but not Morocco, which continues to assert its sovereignty over the region. One of the final acts of office of the outgoing Trump administration was to recognise the Moroccan claim to the Western Sahara. This move has further exacerbated the antagonism between Algeria and Morocco.

Algeria has justified the border closure by claiming farmers have failed to comply with regulations and that drug trafficking gangs are operating in the area. Irrespective of the rationale, the decision poses an existential threat to the farmers. Date farming is the only viable source of income for residents of Figuig. The groves on the Algerian side, many planted by the farmers' grandparents, yield a better harvest than the traditional gardens with complex hand built irrigation systems closer in Morocco.