Sahrawi Refugee Camps: 50 Years of Heat and Exile

• In Sahrawi refugee camps, extreme heat is not a seasonal event but a constant, 50-year-old way of life
• Residents face daily survival struggles involving temperatures over 50°C, chronic power outages, sandstorms, and mosquito plagues

The Reality of Perpetual Hardship

• Residents live without air conditioning or consistent electricity, making food and medicine preservation nearly impossible
• Extreme weather and infrastructure failures prevent basic rest, forcing a daily choice between suffocating indoors or enduring sandstorms outside

Impact on Vulnerable Populations

• Women bear the primary burden of domestic duties, including cooking over open fires and caregiving, despite the extreme heat
• Elderly individuals and pregnant women face severe physical stress and health vulnerabilities due to the lack of cooling and basic utilities
• Children born in the camps grow up accepting power outages and water scarcity as the normal conditions of existence

A Failure of Politics

• The longevity of the refugee camps—now reaching five decades—represents a failure of the international community rather than just a humanitarian crisis
• While the rest of the world waits for a heatwave to end, residents have been waiting 50 years for their exile to conclude, which remains the most unbearable reality of all