Mauritania/Morocco border closure highlighted in the media this week
Nouakchott, Mauritania (PANA) - The press in Mauritania this week covered a variety of issues, including the closure of the Guergarate border crossing (55 kilometers north of Nouadhibou and 500 km from Nouakchott) which separates Mauritania from Morocco.
This buffer zone is under the control of the UN mission in the Sahara, a territory in which the Polisario, supported by Algeria, has contested the sovereignty against Morocco since 1975; it allows the supply of the Mauritanian market and in part, of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) with fruits and vegetables from the kingdom.
The Polisario Front is a Sahrawi rebel national liberation movement aiming to end Moroccan presence in the Western Sahara. It is a consultative member of the Socialist International.
The United Nations considers the Polisario Front to be the legitimate representative of the Sahrawi people and maintains that the Sahrawis have a right to self-determination.
The Polisario Front is, however, outlawed in the parts of Western Sahara under Moroccan control, and it is illegal to raise its party flag (often called the Sahrawi flag) there.
The newspaper "Al Akhbar" publishes an interview with Lemrabott ould Mohamed Mahmoud, an operator from the city of Nouadhibou, a large northern metropolis, through which he talks about "the repercussions of the closure of the Guergarate passage on the fishing sector, multidimensional effects - economic and social impacts, the blocking of fish exports to Europe, the crisis of imports of plastic boxes, refrigerant gas and cardboard boxes to Nouadhibou”.
In the same vein, "MOURASSIL" publishes a statement by a union of 200 Moroccan truckers through which the latter expose their distress: "we live in very bad conditions, under a blazing sun, in an arid desert, without a market, without shops, or even drinking water. We are suffering from chronic illnesses, without medication”.
Faced with this situation, they invite the Mauritanian and Moroccan governments "to intervene urgently and reopen the passage" and the resumption of free movement of people and goods, because "the blockage impacts consumers in several countries: Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, Cote d'Ivoire, Niger”.
The "TAWARY" reported the high prices of fruit and vegetables, which severely test the activities of retailers whose situation is having repercussions on consumers.
"Adrar-Info" announces the imminent arrival of "cargoes of fruits and vegetables thanks to an airlift."
-0- PANA SAS/IS/SOC/KND/VAO 7Nov2020
