Katy Clark – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Katy Clark on 2014-06-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of how the ongoing conflict in Western Sahara affects the ability of Al Qaeda to recruit disaffected youth in Western Sahara.

Hugh Robertson

We monitor the security situation in the region from a number of sources. We are aware of frustration in both Western Sahara and the Tindouf refugee camps at the lack of progress in the political process and at the socio-economic conditions in the camps. However, we are not aware of any evidence to suggest increased radicalisation of Sahrawi youth by terrorist or criminal gangs.