US official visits Tindouf camps as attention returns to refugee conditions

A US official overseeing refugee affairs in North Africa visited the Tindouf camps in southwestern Algeria this week, in a move that signals renewed international attention to the humanitarian and political dimensions of one of the region’s longest-running displacement situations.

The visit comes ahead of a United Nations review of the MINURSO mandate and follows growing calls from policymakers and analysts to reassess conditions in the camps, where Sahrawi refugees have lived for decades with limited economic prospects and continued reliance on aid.

Recent discussions around the camps have increasingly linked humanitarian concerns to broader regional stability, particularly in the Sahel, where security risks and cross-border networks are expanding.