"The key to the diversion of humanitarian aid lies in the deliberate confusion regarding the number of population in the Tindouf camps, a finding reconfirmed a few days ago by a senior European Commission official who raised doubts about the real figures in these inaccessible areas," said the deputy permanent representative at Morocco's diplomatic mission in Geneva, Abdellah Boutadghart.

"The host country is complicit in this fraud since it imposes taxes on this aid of up to 10%, in contradiction with humanitarian norms and practices," he noted.

As a result, "the Tindouf camps continue to serve as (…) political pawns, with their presence being exploited to attract humanitarian aid, which is diverted to build personal fortunes and to maintain a military arsenal of heavy tanks and surface-to-air missiles," he said.

The diplomat recalled, in this regard, that "thousands of people among the population held against its will in the Tindouf camps in Algeria have managed to return to the motherland, many of whom were high-ranking officials and founders of the separatist group that controls these camps with an iron fist".

"They did so not only because they were convinced that the separatist theses were out of date, but also because, unlike the majority of the population in the camps, they found the means to escape from the distress prevailing in the camps," he stressed.

"In the absence of a voluntary repatriation program, which begins with registration, those held in the Tindouf camps have only been able to escape distress by human smugglers or by crossing the desert, risking their lives, facing enormous hardship and risking punishment by separatist militias," he said.

He called for the lifting of the blockade imposed on these populations in the Tindouf camps to enable them to return to the motherland to live in security and dignity, highlighting the strong development dynamic in the southern provinces of Morocco, a momentum reinforced by the development model for these provinces, launched by HM King Mohammed VI.

A total of $8 billion has been allocated for projects to develop wind and solar energy, build Atlantic ports, improve road infrastructure and set up educational complexes as well as health facilities, he noted.