The most human of rights

Recently, the United Nations Security Council passed Resolution 1871, extending the mandate of the UN Mission for a Referendum in the Western Sahara (MINURSO) for another year. There was much talk before and after the passing of the resolution concerning the possibility of expanding MINURSO s responsibilities to include human rights monitoring in the parts of the Western Sahara currently under the control of the Kingdom of Morocco.

MINURSO is the only UN mission that does not include such activities, as the protection of human rights is one of the most basic and essential of UN doctrines. Unfortunately, France, because of its unyielding support of the Moroccan throne, prevented the inclusion of human rights monitoring in the new resolution, despite calls to do so from Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, the European Parliament, the Polisario Front, and a variety of other international organizations.

It is both a tragedy and travesty that the UN is not willing to ensure the protection of the Saharawis in the Occupied Territories in the face of well-documented cases of rape, forced disappearances, torture, violent suppression of peaceful protests, unjustified imprisonment, and even deaths at the hands of Moroccan police forces. Both the Human Rights Watch and the European Parliament s Ad-hoc Committee for the Western Sahara found ample cases of these atrocities in the few days they spent investigating human rights in the Western Sahara.

But there is another human rights violation that occurs at a more discrete level in the Western Saharan conflict, and it is one that is not sexy enough to receive coverage by human rights organizations or international news sources. It is perhaps one of the most fundamental of human rights.

Namely, it is the right to youth.

Despite cultural, religious, geographical, or historical differences, young people around the world share similar hopes, dreams, and aspirations. It is an infallible truth that young people desire to be entertained and to build a better future for themselves. For the tens of thousands of Saharawi youth living in the refugee camps outside of Tindouf, both of these are next to impossible.

Western parents often tell their children, "Enjoy your youth, it is the best time of your life."
Here, such advice seems painfully out of place.

"It s impossible for foreign visitors to understand," says Ilmommy, a 20-year-old living in the camp of February 27th. "People come for a week and then they leave, but we ve been here our whole lives."

Meet me at the
As you walk through the streets of the various camps, you can find groups of teens and 20-somethings huddled in the shade next to buildings, sharing an MP3 player or watching pop music videos on a portable DVD player. Friends will gather in a house to watch movies from Egypt, India, and the US, Spanish League football games, or the latest news from Aljazeera. There are a few musical groups, a pair of youth volunteer organizations (the Sumud Brigade and the Freedom and Peace Group), the national youth union (UJSARIO), and occasional celebrations and parties.

But beyond those meager activities, the young people are prevented from leading the lives that adolescents around the world dream of leading. There are no movie theaters, football fields, swimming pools, or places for young people to gather at night.

There are a pair of Internet cafes where, for a few hours a day, adolescents can go to download music, chat with friends from other countries, or read about developments in sports, news, pop culture, and politics, but most do not have the money to do so.

Further, because of the conditions here young Saharawis are unable to escape the watchful eyes of adults. While family cohesion is much stronger here than in many Western countries, what teen does not occasionally desire to leave his parents behind and have some private time with his or her friends or significant other?

Will work for…anything
Perhaps most frustrating for the teens and young adults is the inability to feel productive. The lucky ones are able to find work in cell phone or grocery stores, as taxi drivers, or as camel herders in the countryside. Such jobs, however, are scarce, and so primarily taken by the bread-winners in the households. In is an undeniable fact that young people have an instinctive desire to put their talents to work, to try to change the world around them, to feel that they are productive. Such cravings are motivated by their dreams of a better future and the joys and successes that it may bring.

Thousands of young Saharawis have traveled abroad to Algeria, Libya, Cuba, Spain, and other countries to study, as there are no universities here in the camps. Upon returning to Tindouf, the differences in the two lifestyles are painfully apparent. In a foreign university, the Saharawis are surrounded by young people like themselves, and, more importantly, opportunities. Here, it is difficult to see where their studies and work will take them.

"It is very frustrating," says Tata, a young Saharawi girl from Auserd who works as a reporter with UPES. "The young people here have nothing to do, and they are very frustrated. Very frustrated."

Perhaps most illustrative are the comments of Ana, a French girl studying in England, who has come to the camps to fulfill an international travel requirement for her degree.

"I feel so useless here," confessed Ana, after a week in the camps. "I don t know what I m supposed to be doing here. I don t know what I can do here."

Ana s feelings were completely understandable after 7 days. It is difficult to comprehend what it must feel like for a 22-year-old who has lived her whole life in the refugee camps.

And then there is the identity crisis. There is no doubt among the Saharawi people that they are distinct from the Moroccan population (though the Moroccan crown would has tried to convince both the international community and the Saharawis themselves otherwise), but the young people here have grown up without ever seeing their homeland. They have been raised in a country that is not their own, and their only knowledge of that land is through the stories of their parents and grandparents.

Adolescence is by nature a time of identity crisis, confusion, and soul-searching. Imagine, however, adding on top of the normal anxieties of youth a constant apprehension about whether or not you will ever return home. For this reason, along with the harsh conditions of the Saharan Desert and refugee life, young people are forced to lose their innocence at a very early age.

Losing patience
A few weeks ago, the day after a peaceful protest by over 2,000 Saharawis and foreign activists in front of the 2,500 km Moroccan wall ended in a tragic landmine explosion, a rally was held in the February 27th camp. The majority of the hundreds of participants were under the age of 25, and the expression of frustration was tangible.

"Through our struggle and our arms we will redeem the Western Sahara with our lives!" shouted the young people, among other chants.

Protests such as these are one of the few chances the young people have to express their frustration. As part of a unified independence movement, they know that it is necessary to follow the policies of the leaders of the Polisario Front, but after sitting idly in refugee camps as their adolescence passes them by, they are beginning to lose their patience.

"As you witnessed in the protest this morning, the young people are demanding that we return to arms," said Abdelkadar Talib Omar, the Prime Minister of the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) in an address after the protest.

"Almost all of the young people want to go to war," admits Ilmommy. "It s better than sitting around in the deserts and wasting our lives."

This simple quote sums up yet another horrible human rights violation in the Western Saharan conflict. These tens of thousands of young people would rather die in pursuit of freedom and a decent future than spend another year in the desert. Is it not the right of all human beings – especially young people – to have hopes and dreams that go beyond dying for one s country?

The Kingdom of Morocco has repeatedly tried to sell to the world the idea that the Polisario Front is trying to keep the Saharawis here against their will, an idea whose absurdity is immediately evident in the camps, where the leaders of the government work, eat, and sleep among the normal Saharawi citizens with no body guards or security. And frustrated as the young people are with their lives in the camps, their dedication to the Saharawi movement for independence surpasses even their own aspirations and desires.

"Of course we are all tired of living here," says Badr, the leader of the Sumud Brigades, "but the older generation knows the horrors of war, and we don t. If they think it is best we don t go to war, we must listen to them."

So by obedience, not by will, the young people continue spending their most fruitful years under the sweltering Saharan sun.

The time is now
The Western Saharan conflict has a simple solution – a democratic referendum on the political future of the territory, which must include the option of independence – but it has been complicated by the interests of major world powers. For the sake of international law, for the future legitimacy of the United Nations, for the Saharawis suffering beatings and torture in the Occupied Territories, it must be resolved now.

But also, the UN absolutely must find a way to enforce the Saharawis right to self-determination so that thousands of children, teens, and young adults can begin to live the youth that has been unjustly taken from them. They are innocent victims of the Moroccan occupation, and the UN and the international community must ensure their right to a decent adolescence.

Saharawi Red Crescent – a well-oiled machine

For 35 years, the Saharawi refugees living in the five camps surrounding Tindouf, Algeria, have survived largely on emergency humanitarian food aid. Approximately 2,760 tons of food aid arrive in the Saharawi camps each month, every ounce of which must be efficiently transported to the proper recipients, who occupy five different camps, all of which are separated by at least a 30-minute Land Rover drive. What international organization is in charge of undertaking this gargantuan process?

The reader may be surprised to learn that, unlike in the traditional Western image of refugees, the Saharawis do not line up in long queues, awaiting their spoonfuls of unidentifiable morsels to survive another day of existence. Rather, the process of humanitarian food aid distribution is organized, coordinated, and undertaken by the Saharawis themselves, through the Saharawi Red Crescent (SRC).

The following information is taken from an interview with Bouhabayni Yehyeh, the current director of the Saharawi Red Crescent.

From the ground up
Just like all Saharawi institutions here outside of Tindouf, the Saharawi Red Crescent was built from scratch, with little to no experience, but an intense desire to improve the lives of their fellow countrymen. In its 30-plus years of existence the SRC has developed into an incredibly complex and transparent organization.

The SRC was founded in November of 1975, immediately following the invasion and occupation of the Western Sahara by the Royal Moroccan Army and hundreds of thousands of Moroccan settlers. The SRC s original activities were focused upon reuniting of families who had fled the Moroccan napalm and mortar attacks and supplying the Saharawi refugees with food, water, and housing (tents made of tarps). In the mid-1980s, when humanitarian aid from international organizations began to arrive in the camps, the SRC had to adapt its role.

Currently, the SRC receives food bought with donations from the UN High Commissioner on Human Rights (UNHCR), the World Food Program (WFP), the United Nations Children s Fund (UNICEF), the Spanish Agency for Cooperation, the Algerian Red Crescent, and the European Commission s Humanitarian Aid Office (ECHO).

"Our mission now is to facilitate the search, reception, storage, and distribution of the basic food basket ," cites Bouhabayni.

Each month, 125,000 individuals – those identified by the UNHCR as the "most vulnerable" – receive the following foodstuffs: 2 kg of lentils, 1 liter of vegetable oil, 1 kg of sugar, and 13.5 kg of carbohydrates, which for decades consisted entirely of flour, but was diversified in late-2008 to include 2 kg of barley, 2 kg of rice, and 2 kg of corn or peas.

"These food items are essential, but still not enough to provide a balanced diet," says Bouhabayni.

Whereas food aid used to arrive in 6-month increments, it is now delivered on a monthly basis, and sometimes the deliveries are late.

"We have no emergency stock," admits Bouhabayni, "so if there is a delay, we all suffer. Families sometimes do not know if they are receiving last month s food, or this month s, or maybe even next month s."

The WFP, which annually requests $50 million from donor organizations for the Western Saharan refugees, is dependent on the good-will of external sources.

"We have a problem with donor fatigue, because it s not a sexy conflict," admits Bouhabayni. "That s why a main part of our mission consists of international campaigns for donations."

Pointing fingers
As with the sending of young Saharawis to study in Cuba, the cohesion of the Saharawi people in the camps, and non-alignment during the Cold War, the SRC has somehow found its way into the annals of Moroccan propaganda against the Polisario Front, the leaders of the Saharawi movement for independence.

In a 2005 report published on the Web site of the Moroccan American Center for Policy (MACP), a registered agent of the Kingdom of Morocco, it was reported that a confidential document of a World Food Program inspection in the Tindouf camps stated that "[t]he inspectors noted a certain number of weaknesses in aid control and management both in the logistic chain and in distribution."

When asked about the diversion of humanitarian food aid and its selling on the black market – the possibility of which has been cited in a number of Moroccan-supported reports – the director of the SRC cast a sideways glance and left the office. He re-entered carrying a stack of papers and carbon-copy receipts. It was clear that he had been asked this question before.

How do they do that?
This is the process of food distribution as Bouhabayni explains it:

Once per month, the food aid arrives at the port of Oran, where it is immediately loaded onto trucks and shipped to Algiers. In Algiers, a committee consisting of representatives of the UNHCR, UNICEF, the Spanish Agency of Cooperation, the Saharawi Red Crescent, the Algerian Red Crescent, ECHO, and the Algerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (as an observer), meets to inspect and record the quantities of the products and the SRC s plan for distribution.

From Algiers, the foodstuffs are transported by land to the administrative Saharawi camp of Rabouni, where the SRC headquarters are located. Records of all of the food received are written down and signed by the director of storage, the drivers of the trucks, and individual managers within the storage sections (which are separated by food type). The aid is immediately divided up by product and stored.

Before the end of each month, the SRC must produce three documents. The first is the stock of the storage facilities. The second is the distribution plan, which includes the number of rations/kilos of each product that will be given to each of the recipient refugees, who are listed by name, age, gender, family information, and address within the camps, which is broken down to wilaya (camp), daira (city), and barrio (neighborhood). The third document is the distribution schedule, which lists the day that the food will be arriving to each daira of each wilaya.

The WFP receives copies of all of these documents each month, and the SRC representatives and the presidents of each daira are given a copy of the distribution schedule several days before the aid is scheduled to arrive in a particular camp.

"We record everything, down to the distribution of each kilo of each product to each person in every camp," boasts Bouhabayni.

Load em up
Once these documents are completed and presented to the WFP, the SRC begins the long, arduous process of delivering vital foodstuffs to the 125,000 "most vulnerable" refugees. The SRC s self-devised methods for doing so would put any international aid organization to shame.

First, a truck arrives in the Distribution Center, where the chief of distribution must fill out a form including the quantity of each product to be delivered, the organizations that donated the products, the month of distribution, the truck s registration number, and the name of the driver. The form must be signed by the driver and two representatives from the Distribution Center.

At this point, the driver does not know his final destination.

He must take two copies of the completed form to the Storage Center, where he presents one of them. At the storage center, another form is filled out, including the name of the director of storage that day, the section (aka, product) the driver is loading from, the name of the director of the particular section, the name of the leader of the group of six SRC workers in that section, and the driver s name.

The truck is loaded, and the form is signed by the director of storage, the director of the section, the leader of the group of section workers, and the driver, who takes two copies back to the Distribution Center.

Here, the driver must present the copy of the form from the Storage Center, and he his given his final orders of delivery, which include a list of the products he is carrying and the daira to which he must deliver.

On the road again
At this point, the driver can finally begin the journey to the particular wilaya, with copies of each form in hand (the other copies are presented to WFP representatives on a daily basis).

Once in the daira, the driver is met by the local SRC representative, the president of the daira, and the leaders of the daira groups. (For purposes of food distribution, the dairas are broken down into groups of 150 individuals, which are further divided into sub-groups of 50 people, since the food aid often arrives in 50-kg bags. The groups and sub-groups democratically select their own leaders).

The contents of the truck are checked by these individuals, and a form must be signed by all three, noting any irregularities or inconsistencies between the documents carried by the driver and the actual products of the truck.

At this point, the food is unloaded and taken to a central meeting place in each sub-group s neighborhood, where individual family members must come and claim their food, checking their names off of a list.

All of the documents produced during this daily process are provided to the WFP and the SRC s Office of Monitoring and Control. Further, WFP representatives are free to enter the SRC Distribution and Storage Centers at any time, and they can speak with individual families or group leaders to inquire about the distribution.

After displaying this dizzying parade of paperwork, Bouhabayni succinctly dispelled the theory of diversion of humanitarian aid by the Polisario leadership.

"Look, there are over 150,000 hungry, frustrated refugees here in the camps," he said. "Do you really believe that the leaders of the Polisario could walk and sleep peacefully among the people if they thought that their food was being taken from them? Muhamed Abdelazziz [Secretary General of the Polisario Front and President of the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic] lives in a normal house with no guards. If the Polisario was stealing food, do you think he could that?"

Not here for the long run
While it is apparent that, at least at present, the food distribution chain is a well-oiled, highly transparent process, the fuel that fires it is still based on emergency international aid, which makes the SRC s efforts more complicated.

"We can t use the same standards that are applied to short-term emergency standards – we ve been here for over 30 years!" Bouhabayni points out. "We re not trying to develop or settle in here, but we do need enough to survive and maintain the health of the Saharawi people."

Profile of a Cubarawi

Cubarawi – (coo-ba- ra-wee) n. A person of Saharawi birth who has spent at least five years studying in Cuba, and thus currently displays a mix of the two lifestyles and is fluent in both Spanish and Hassaniya.

You won t find this definition in Webster s Dictionary, World Book Encyclopedia, or even Wikipedia. It is not a recognized word in any language, but it is an expression with considerable meaning for hundreds of Saharawi refugees here in the camps outside of Tindouf, Algeria. A Cubarawi is a very real phenomenon, and it is yet another aspect of the Western Saharan conflict that is horribly mis- or underreported by international media outlets.

A Cubarawi, by definition, has spent anywhere from four to sixteen years – oftentimes uninterrupted – studying in a Cuban secondary school and/or university. Usually, he or she left the Saharawi refugee camps or the Occupied Territories (the part of the Western Sahara currently under the control of the Kingdom of Morocco) at a young age, because there are many more educational opportunities in the cities of Cuba than in the sands of the Saharan Desert.

Cubarawis eventually leave the Republic of Cuba and return to the refugee camps with degrees in general medicine, nursing, mechanical engineering, law, literature, English language, and a plethora of other areas of study.

"Be careful with that!" shouts Mansoor in his Cuban-accented Spanish as Yalul (an electrical engineer) rolls up his friend s law school diploma. Cubarawis are understandably proud of their long, arduous studies on the Island of Youth.

Pointing the finger
The existence of Cubarawis has unfortunately provided the Kingdom of Morocco with yet another unfounded basis for international propaganda in its attempt to sell the Polisario Front as a brutal, controlling regime that abuses the Saharawi people.

"Within the framework of Cuban/Polisario relations, one of the major aspects of cooperation is the deportation of Sahraoui [sic] children from the Tindouf camps to Cuba primarily to be educated, " claims a 2006 report by the Moroccan American Center for Policy (MACP). "However, this education cooperation also comes with a very substantial dose of Cuban propaganda."

"Cuban propaganda? Yeah, there was Cuban propaganda. In Cuba, they made us enjoy life and live as we pleased, which is more than we can do here in these camps," said Mafoot, who studied electrical engineering in Cuba for 13 years.

The MACP report goes on to insist that "the children reportedly receive no education in their own language." It is not much of a stretch to imagine that Hassaniya, the language spoken only by Saharawis and Mauritanians, is not a language of educational instruction on the Caribbean island.

Furthermore, the report cites that "the program consists of a half day of class…and a half day of agricultural work in the sugar cane fields to teach the virtues of work. "

"Yes, we worked in the fields in the afternoons, but we didn t mind," admits Aftaim, who studied for 12 years in Cuba and now works as a nurse in the clinic in February 27th camp. "They paid for us to study and live for over a decade, so it wasn t too much to ask us help clear a one-square-meter plot of land once a day."

The MACP document claims that "these young people have been wholly out of touch with both their families and life in the camps for a dozen years or more. Their native language skills have deteriorated and they are unaware of the customs and practices."

The testimony used by MACP to write its report, according to a number of Cubarawis living in the camps, was provided by two Saharawis who were not able to find work in Cuba after completing their studies, but did not want to return to the harsh lifestyle of the refugee camps.

"Some people will do anything for money," says Moustafa, who studied in Cuba for two full decades. "These two found out they could make money off of Morocco by spreading this propaganda about our conditions in Cuba. Life wasn t perfect, but we were not forced to do anything we didn t want to do."

A handful of the points of the report are true, but either blown completely out of proportion or taken completely out of context.

The MACP, a registered agent of the Kingdom of Morocco operating in Washington, claims that the Polisario leadership forcefully separates children from their families in an attempt to indoctrinate them with Cuban ideology. It does not, however, point a finger at Morocco for preventing the holding of a UN-recognized, democratic referendum on the political future of the Western Sahara, thus forcing the Saharawis to live in refugee camps in the Sahara Desert in conditions that any human being in his right mind would want to escape.

Notably, almost all of the Cubarawi students return to the camps because of their undying support of the movement for the liberation of their homeland.

La vida bonita
So, what is the general consensus of the Cubarawis who have returned to the refugee camps about their supposedly forced stays of educational indoctrination?

"I loved it!" shouts Aftaim with a smile. "I loved the people, the beaches, the lifestyle, and especially my studies. We got a taste of the world outside of this hell we re forced to live in by the Moroccans."

"The people there were wonderful, and they treated us with kindness and respect," insists Badr, who returned to the camps in 2004 and helped found the Brigada Sumud volunteer youth organization.

Of the 11 Cubarawis interviewed before the writing of this article, everyone single on of them looked back with fondness on their lives in Cuba, and above all, the Cuban people.

A difficult transition
The MACP is right to conclude that the children and young adults live outside of their own culture for over a decade, and thus suffer from a certain degree of cultural disconnect when they return.

"Of course it was a difficult transition," says Badr. "We have no independence here. We were used to living on our own, and here, everyone wants to know everything about you. They re always asking where you re going and where you ve been. I m still not used to that."

"I ve never made tea," confesses another Cubarawi, who asks not to be named because of the sensitivity of such a statement.

Above all, after over a decade in a Spanish-speaking country, some Cubarawis have considerable problems with the Hassaniya language when they return. But after a few months, the Saharawis eventually recover most, if not all of their native tongue.

"It was definitely difficult to come back," confesses Saleh, a Cubarawi after 12 years in the Republic of Cuba. "There are still some words in Hassaniya that I don t know, and people look at me funny when I can t think of them."

"But you know what I really miss?" he continues, with a playful grin. "Walking around my apartment in my underwear. There s no privacy here. I just can t do it."

Having left the camps at an early age, the Cubarawis picked up not only some Cuban customs, but also the Caribbean mindset. Because of this interesting mix of cultures, they understandably connect best with each other.

"We don t only hang out with each other, but when we re together, people think we re the best of friends," says Salama, who studied English in Cuba.

"Sometimes Arab people are too concerned with money and planning for the future," offers Mafoot. "The Cuban people are very happy people, because they live in the now. It is hard to live in the now when our whole existence is based on the future of our country."

When life back in the camps gets too burdensome for these young people accustomed to the freedom of Cuba, they know that they can always meet up to speak in Hassaniy-ish (a mix of Hassaniya and Spanish), play cards, and talk about the good old days.

"No matter how frustrated I get here," says Badr, "I know I can always go meet up with my friends who have the same mindset as me."

All dressed up but no place to go
Perhaps the most abrasive aspect of the return to the camps is the lack of comparable opportunities that the Saharawis witnessed in Cuba.

"It s tough here, because in Cuba, we saw how people would get their degree and then be able to get a job that they could use their skills in," says Saleh. "Here, a lot of people struggle to find work related to their expertise."

Once back in the camps, the Cubarawis do what they can to find ways to utilize their expertise and contribute to improving the lives of their fellow Saharawis.

Aftaim is a nurse. Salama is an English teacher. Mehedi is a computer technician. Mafoot works in the Ministry of the Rehabilitation of the Liberated Zones. Saleh has opened a small group of stores based on an alternative economic system.

Still, there is a noticeable sense of anxiety when you talk to a Cubarawi – they are used to being surrounded by activity and opportunity, and here outside of Tindouf, there is little.

"We find work where we can," offers Jalul, who studied engineering, "but sometimes it s not stuff that you studied."

A rose by any other name
Thus, the Cubarawi is a very real phenomenon here in the Saharawi refugee camps. Despite having spent half of their lives on the Island of Youth, however, there is no doubt in the minds of the Cubarawis who they really are.

"Of course we made tea in Cuba!" shouts Moustafa. "I was born a Saharawi, and I ll die a Saharawi!"

Still, as a group of four Cubarawis cruise towards the sunset in a Land Rover blasting music and waving and shouting to all passers-by, it is clear that these Saharawi students have brought back a little Caribbean flavor to the refugee camps.

"Everyone knows that both countries [Spain and France] are sympathetic to the Moroccan proposal of autonomy," the minister went on to say.

Moroccan Minister of Foreign Affairs assumes Spanish and France support for autonomy plan


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The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Morocco, Taib Fassi Fihri, claimed in a press conference with Arabic media outlets that Spain and France back the autonomy plan for Western Sahara that the Kingdom has proposed as a solution to the 30-year-old conflict between it and the Polisario Front.

Fassi Fihri explained that the Arab Maghreb Union (AMU), which includes the Kingdom of Morocco, Mauritania, Algeria, Lybia and Tunisia, is attempting to gain the support of France and Spain to reopen conversations and move forward with "a solution to the problem of the Moroccan Sahara."
The Moroccan minister’s statements were made in response to those that had been expressed in a separate press conference by Miguel Angel Moratinos, the Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs. The Spanish minister had stated that the issue of the Western Saharan was not discussed during the 5+5 Forum, because it was not the appropriate environment to do so.

Moratinos also assured that all of the participating countries support the "efforts of the United Nations and the current personal representative of the UN Secretary General."

Both ministers were speaking before the second day of the 5+5 Forum, which brought together ministers of Foreign Affairs or other representatives from ten countries of the western Mediterranean region: Spain, France, Italy, Malta, Portugal, Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco and Tunisia.

This seventh meeting of the 5+5 Forum, established in 1990 to promote flexible dialogue between the participants, was co-chaired by Morocco and Spain and was held in the Palace of Congresses in Cordoba, Spain.

Come to the table

Fassi Fihri’s personal opinions seem to show his contempt for his Spanish counterpart’s support for the UN’s efforts. The minister of the Moroccan Kingdom maintained that to resolve the contentious Saharan issues, "it is not important to consider the 1970s as a reference point," but to consider a path based on autonomy.

The Moroccan minister insisted that his country would look for the consensus of Algeria and the Polisario Front, who "can take advantage of this opportunity to support a democratic solution for the people."

Just a few days earlier, in the Secretary General’s April 13 report on the Western Sahara and MINURSO’s mission, Ban Ki Moon recommended "that the Security Council reiterate its call upon the parties, Morocco and the Polisario Front, to negotiate in good faith, without an preconditions, and to show political will to enter into substantive discussions and ensure the success of the negotiations."

Fassi Fihri’s comments made clear the preconditions and the lack of political will of the Morocco.

Your rules or mine?

The minister of the Kingdom of Morocco instead insisted that "autonomy is the answer that respects international law, and even more importantly, gives the people what they want, that is, freedom of expression and freedom to reside in a democratic territory, and autonomy is the solution for all of that."

In UN Security Council Resolution 690 (1991), which established the United Nations Mission for a Referendum in the Western Sahara (MINURSO), the Security Council expressed its "full support for the efforts of the Secretary-General for the organization and the supervision, by the United Nations in cooperation with the Organization of African Unity, of a referendum for self-determination of the people of the Western Sahara."

The referendum to which the Security Council members refer is one that must embody the principles of decolonization and self-determination as outlined in the UN Charter. In other words, under international law, such a referendum must offer previously-colonized people at least three options: independence, autonomy or integration within another country.

Even if the Security Council has lost the political will to enforce UN policy since 1991, what was international law then is still international law now. Therefore, Fassi Fihri’s words fly in the face of true UN policy and international legality.

Furthermore, it is questionable whether an autonomous Western Sahara would provide the Saharawi people with "freedom of expression and freedom to reside in a democratic territory."

In its 2008 report on the human rights situations in Moroccan-occupied territories of the Western Sahara and the Saharawi refugee camps, Human Rights Watch investigated "the right of persons to speak, assemble, and associate on behalf of the self-determination for the Saharawi people and on behalf of their human rights."

Those investigations found that "Moroccan authorities repress this right through laws penalizing affronts to Morocco’s ‘territorial integrity,’ through arbitrary arrests, unfair trials, restrictions on associations and assemblies, and through police violence and harassment that goes unpunished."

Such realities in present-day Western Sahara do not bode well for the establishment of a free and democratic autonomous region of the Kingdom of Morocco in the future.

Let them eat cake

In classic Marie-Antoinette fashion, Fassi Fihri showed his disrespect for the will of the people, and expressed the general policy of the Kingdom of Morocco towards the conflict in the Western Sahara, as well as towards democracy within its own borders.

The idea, as he emphasized, is to be able to "resolve the issue from above so as to not be held hostage by this problem when it comes times to reaffirm bilateral relations with Algeria."

According to UN General Assembly Resolution 1514 (XV) of 1960, in non-self-governing territories, of which the Western Sahara is one, "immediate steps shall be taken…to transfer all powers to the people of those territories, without an conditions or reservations, in accordance with their freely expressed will and desire."

In other words, despite the personal opinions expressed in this press conference by Fassi Fihri, the Saharawi people of the Western Sahara must be the ones who determine the future of the territory.

Let’s get together

In the same press conference, the Moroccan minister insisted that a resolution based on autonomy would ensure a "democratic solution for the people, and above all, support stability in the Maghreb and offer opportunities for cooperation on the regional and international scale."

Fassiri Fihri claimed that the borders between the Kingdom of Morocco and Algeria – which have been shut off since 1991 – "are kept closed by Algeria," but that the resolution of the Western Saharan conflict would help to "normalize relations between the two" and help move towards Maghreb integration."

All of the minister’s comments on regional and international integration were made in spite of the fact that the Kingdom of Morocco is the only African nation that is not a member of the African Union, from which it withdrew in 1984, when the Polisario Front was admitted as the representative government of the Saharawi people.

Polisario Front asks UN Security Council to take on greater responsibility

In a letter addressed to the President of the United Nations Security Council, Ahmed Boukhari, the representative of the Polisario Front to the UN, refuted Moroccan claims of a Saharawi violation of the 1991 ceasefire and called for the international organization to expand the mandate of the UN Mission for a Referendum in the Western Sahara (MINURSO) and ensure that Morocco comes to the negotiating table with an open mind.

Boukhari s letter was written on behalf of the Polisario Front in response to a statement released by the minister of foreign affairs and the minister of the interior of the Kingdom of Morocco on Friday following a peaceful protest march in the desert.

The ministries of the Moroccan Kingdom released a statement falsely accusing the protestors of possessing weapons and firing shots into the air. The statement accused the Polisario Front of breaking the 1991 ceasefire – which was signed between the Moroccan monarchy and Polisario under the authority of the UN and the African Union (AU) – and requested that the UN take action against the Saharawis.

The protest, known as the International March against the Wall of Shame, was arranged by the National Union of Saharawi Women (UNMS), the Saharawi Youth Union (UJSARIO) and a group of Spanish students known as Consciencia Saharaui, or Saharawi Conscience. Over 2,000 international activists took part in the demonstration.

During the protest, a group of Saharawi youth approached the Moroccan-built wall that separates the Western Sahara in two. The young Saharawis tore up barbed wire fencing and hurled rocks towards the wall. Their approach ended in tragedy, however, when one of the demonstrators stepped on an anti-personnel landmine, losing his foot and injuring several others.

In Boukhari s letter (included below), the Polisario representative expresses his solidarity with the victims families, calls on the UN to protect human rights in the occupied territories of the Western Sahara and encourages the Security Council to pressure Morocco to de-mine and withdraw its troops from the Western Saharan territory.

New York
13 April 2009

Mr President,

Following official instructions, I have the honour to bring the following to your attention:

On 10 April, a peaceful demonstration took place before the military wall erected by Morocco in the very heart of our country, a symbol of what the General Assembly resolution 34/37 described as a “military occupation”, which gathered hundreds of human rights defenders, artists and intellectuals and representatives of both Sahrawi and international civil society groups. Several young Sahrawis were wounded as a result of the explosion of an antipersonnel mines planted by Morocco in the Territory and one of them has lost his foot.

The POLISARIO Front, which has expressed its sympathy and solidarity with the wounded and their families, considers that this tragic incident highlights the urgent need for Morocco to put at the disposal of the United Nations and European NGOs, such as Landmine Action, all the information available to detect, map and deactivate the mines in order to ensure that the lives of Sahrawi civil population and others as well as the huge flow of cattle that often roam the area are effectively protected from the risk created by the absence of sufficient demarcation of the fields that are believed to be infested with about 5 million antipersonnel landmines.

Contrary to the official and public allegations of Morocco, it was not a military activity or action. It was a huge peaceful demonstration carried out by Sahrawi civilians and foreigners who were neither armed nor equipped with any mine detectors and did not fire a single shot. International media were present there.

Morocco violates systematically human rights in Western Sahara and exploits illegally the natural resources of the Territory in which it does whatever she pleases under the protection of an illegal occupation that persists in blatant defiance of the resolutions of the General Assembly, the Security Council, the African Union and the Non-Aligned Movement.

Morocco is certainly in no good position to request the United Nations to shoulder any responsibility after it has sabotaged all efforts deployed by the Organisation throughout three decades, and particularly in relation to an incident that it has deliberately distorted to present it as a breach of the ceasefire.

The terms of the military agreements signed by the two parties with MINURSO are crystal clear, and it has been indicated in several reports of the Secretary-General that Morocco did not respect them, the same as it did not respect the terms of the main mandate that the Security Council gave, in its resolutions 650 (1990) and 680 (1991), to MINURSO to hold the self-determination referendum in Western Sahara, which is an inseparable element of the ceasefire currently in force.

Morocco should give better proofs to the international community that it is motivated by a sincere political will to cooperate with the United Nations in the just and lasting solution of the conflict created by its prolonged occupation of our country, instead of engaging in diversionary activities aimed at diverting the attention from what is essential.

Firstly, and given the urgency prompted by facts documented and evidenced by different international organisations, the decisive proof that cannot be postponed is to allow MINURSO to include in its mandate the issue of human rights in the Territory. If the two parties claim that they do not have anything to hide from the international community, this inclusion should not pose major difficulties and the Security Council would certainly give it its approval.

Secondly, to accept the political and military confidence-building measures that were proposed to the two parties during the negotiations held in Manhasset to help reduce the growing tension and to protect the innocent lives of civilian residents, illegal immigrants and visitors to the region from the mine-infested fields.

Lastly, to go to a possible resumption of the direct negotiations with an open spirit, in good faith and without pre-conditions that could affect the framework or the substance and objectives of the process of peaceful solution that was initiated within the ambit of resolution 1754 (2007).

I shall be grateful to you, Excellency, if you would bring the content of the present letter to the attention of the Members of the Security Council.

I avail myself of this opportunity to renew to you the assurances of my highest consideration.

Ahmed Boukhari
Representative of the POLISARIO Front

SADR primer minister addresses international activists during conference on Moroccan wall

In the meeting hall of the National Union of Saharawi Women (UNMS) in the February 27th refugee camp, the prime minister of the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) made a surprise appearance to speak with the attendees of a conference on the Moroccan-built wall that divides the Western Sahara.

“I apologize for interrupting this conference,” began Prime Minister Abdelkader Taleb Omar, “but I think it is important to talk about yesterday’s events.

“First of all, I want to thank you all for your presence. Yesterday’s International March against the Wall of Shame was an utter triumph, thanks to the participation of people from Africa, Europe and the Americas...Every time people like you come to show your solidarity, we get a fresh breath of freedom.”

Abdelkader went on to speak about the explosion of a landmine during the march, which occurred when a group of Saharawi youth broke off from the 3,000 other protestors and began to approach the heavily-fortified Moroccan wall. In the explosion, one young Saharawi lost his foot, and four others sustained burns and shrapnel wounds.

“You have all now seen, in a very direct way, the horror that is produced by the presence of the Moroccan wall,” stated Abdelkader. “You have seen how it can so easily convert life into death.”

During the protest, young Saharawis became aggressive and brazenly threw rocks toward the Moroccan wall while Polisario officials unsuccessfully tried to stop them.

In the Saharawi camps, the difference of opinion between generations concerning the most effective route to regaining their lands and securing their independence is apparent. The prime minister spoke about this in his address.

“We are dedicated to following a peaceful path to independence,” he assured, “but as you can see, the Polisario Front receives pressure from a number of groups, especially the young Saharawis, who beg us to take the next step and return to armed struggle.”

The prime minister expressed some hope that the day’s events might spark more international attention

“God willing, this horrible incident will motivate the United Nations to change its approach the conflict. The Saharawi people want a peaceful and democratic solution…but if our peaceful efforts continue to be ignored, the region will return to war and strife.”

The Wall of Shame

The prime minister’s discourse took up the majority of the time that had been allotted for the informational session regarding the Moroccan-built wall, which was to be presented by Baba Moustafa Sayyid, the director of the Saguia il-Hamra Institute for Strategic Studies.

Nonetheless, Baba managed to give a brief, but very informative presentation on the history of the conflict of the Western Sahara and the construction of the wall, which was especially useful for the activists, many of whom were visiting the Western Sahara for the first time.

“Just as deadly as the war between the Saharawis and the Moroccan monarchy was and continues to be the complete black-out of international information regarding the conflict and the construction of the wall,” insisted Baba.

Five Saharawis injured by landmine blast during peaceful protest against Moroccan wall in Western Sahara

Five Saharawis were injured in Rouss Essabty on Friday, 70 km from the Saharawi refugee camps, when a 19-year-old boy stepped on a landmine.

The victims, along with 3,000 other Saharawis and international activists, were participating in a peaceful protest against the Moroccan wall that divides the Western Sahara.

The blast occurred when the five victims were attempting to approach the wall by clearing a path through a barbed wire barrier that surrounds it, which is known to the Saharawis as the Wall of Shame. Three of the victims, identified as Ibrahim Hussein Abait, Hamdi Fadli Adbelahi and Mohamed Salim Bouda Larossi, were passing through an active minefield with more than 300 other demonstrators.

Ibrahim, from the Saharawi refugee camp of Dakhla, suffered the gravest injury, losing more than half of his left foot in the explosion. Hamdi and Mohamed sustained minor burns and shrapnel wounds to their faces, arms and backs.

Luckily, Saharawi doctors and members of Landmine Action (LMA), a British NGO working to de-mine the Western Sahara, had accompanied the protestors to the wall. The group had emergency first-responders on-hand who dressed the victims’ wounds and evacuated the three from the zone. Ibrahim was taken to a hospital in Tindouf, Algeria, and the other four were taken to the SADR National Hospital in Rabouni.

The protest in which the five were participating was called to the International March against the Wall of Shame. During their peaceful march, they formed a human chain in the desert to call for the destruction of this partition and to show support for Saharawi people’s right to self-determination.

During the protest, which was organized by the National Union of Saharawi Women (UNMS), the 2,000 foreign participants joined hundreds of Saharawis to express their fervent condemnation of the continued presence of the wall, which extends 2,500 km and which is surrounded by millions of Moroccan anti-personnel and anti-tank landmines.

By tearing apart friends and families, the wall, which was built by Morocco in the 1980s, has augmented the suffering of Saharawis both in the Occupied Territories and the refugee camps in Algeria.

According to a representative from Landmine Action, there are over 7 million landmines located around the Wall of Shame, and most have been planted using methods that violate international norms. To alert the international community of this danger, LMA has been hosting conferences for the past week to raise awareness about the perilous situation here in the Western Sahara.

Activits brush up on Wall of Shame before journey to Western Sahara

In the stifling meeting hall of the National Union of Saharawi Women (UNMS), hundreds of international activists gathered late Thursday morning to learn about the Moroccan-built wall of sand and stone that divides the Western Sahara in two.

The presentation on the 260,000 km wall was given by Lih Beiruk, special representative of the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) to the Netherlands; Ahmed Sidali, the Saharawi director of Landmine Action, a British NGO that has been working in the region since 2006; and representatives of the SADR Ministry of Defense.

The conference began with a 10-minute documentary produced by UNMS and the Saharawi Youth Union (UJSARIO) entitled "The Wall of Shame," as it is known among Saharawis and international supporters of the Saharawi movement for self-determination.

According to the documentary makers, the Moroccan wall, which is defended by 160,000 soldiers, hundreds of tanks and millions of mines, was built with four main objectives in mind: to keep Polisario soldiers (the leaders of the Saharawi movement for independence) away from the main cities occupied by Morocco, to safeguard the Bu Craa mines and the ports at Layoun under Moroccan control, to take away the Polisario’s previously effective suprise attacks and to create an obstacle to any kind of offensive led by the Saharawis.

In the early 1980s, the documentary continued, the first walls were built out of sand, but in May 1987, the Moroccans began to fortify them with thicker rock walls.

During the short film, the Moroccan wall was compared to the Berlin Wall. The latter, it was argued, received coverage both day and night, while the former was unknown throughout the world, despite the fact that it was 60 times longer than its German counterpart.

All in all, just a mine around the wall

After the documentary, Lih discussed history of sand berm and the the military build-up by the Moroccans on their side of the wall.

The wall, argued the SADR special representative, was the brainchild of Israeli military experts, who entered Morocco with Canadian passports and assisted the Moroccan military in planning and constructing the barrier.

"We continue to try to convince Morocco to de-arm its side of the wall, but it just keeps fortifying it with more modern weapons," Lih argued. "It has taken international assistance that it promised to spend on combatting illegal immigration and the drug trade, and it has used it to fortify the wall."

While unable to cite specific examples of the Moroccans continuing to plant mines around the sand curtain – a practice which is prohibited under the conditions agreed to by the Polisario Front and the Moroccan crown in the 1991 UN-sponsored cease-fire – Lih suggested that the Moroccan military may be doing so at night.

"We have found mines that were fabricated in 2001," he pointed out,"so if you do the math..."

A dirty, thankless job

Meanwhile, on the Saharawi-controlled side of the wall, the Polisario Front has enlisted the help of Landmine Action (LMA) in de-mining the Western Sahara since 2006, said Ahmed.

Echoing a similar presentation given at the Association for the Families of Saharawi Political Prisoners and Dissappeared Persons (AFAPREDESA) on Saturday, Ahmed informed the attendees of LMA’s past activities and future plans in the Western Sahara.

In 2007 and 2008, the organization performed its survey of the area and began removal of the landmines, cluster bombs, and ordinances it encountered. By November of 2008, LMA had visually cleared over 3,765,000 square meters and had performed subsurface scans on another 63,000 square meters. Within this area, the NGO destroyed 1,877 items, including 550 BLU63 cluster bombs.

Landmines, cluster bombs, unexploded aircraft shells, and other ERWs plague the Western Sahara, making it one of top 10 most contaminated countries in the world.

"Our efforts are doubly challenging here in the desert," said Ahmed. "After a heavy rain, the mines can migrate with the water and sands, so we have to re-check areas that we have already surveyed."

When asked how long the demining of the Western Sahara would take with LMA’s current resources, Ahmed responded that the process could take "decades."

Man versus mortar

The Spanish, German, Italian, British and American acitivists – among others – listening to the presentation on the Wall of Shame were doing so in preparation for their journey to said barrier the following morning.

Over 1,000 participants are expected to take the two-hour ride in Land Rovers and Jeeps to the Liberated Zones of the Western Sahara (the territory under the control of the Polisario Front). Once at the wall, the activists will march for 2 of the 240,000 km of the embankment, showing their solidarity with the Saharawi people.

For many of the travellers, it will be their first encounter with the Moroccan wall, and a hint of nervousness was apparent in the meeting hall, but a representative of the SADR Ministry of Defense did his best to quiet their qualms.

"We have visited the zone just a few days ago," he affirmed, "and it is perfectly safe. Just stay with the group, and it will be a very safe, productive and moving day."

International visitors prepare for march against the "Wall of Shame" in the Western Sahara

Hundreds of Spanish visitors spent the evening hours on Thursday making final preparations for their march of protest and solidarity in front of the Moroccan-built wall that divides the Western Sahara in two.

Lunches were made, bags were packed, and orientation sessions were held to make sure that all of the participants were ready for Friday’s events, organized and coordinated by the National Union of Saharawi Women (UNMS).

These 300 Spaniards have signed up to make the two-hour trip, but several hundred more – from Germany, Italy, Great Britain, the United States, France, Austria, Portugal, El Salvador, Mexico and other countries – will be accompanying them as they demonstrate their opposition to the Moroccan occupation in the Western Sahara and the physical barrier erected between the Saharawi refugees near Tindouf, Algeria, and their family members still living in the territory occupied by Morocco.

After three days of conferences, meetings, celebrations and informational sessions, the participants are hoping that the culmination of their visit to the Saharawi refugee camps – their 2 km march in front of the 2,500 km-long sand embankment – will help to raise international awareness and show their solidarity with the Saharawi people.

"I think that’s what everyone is wishing for," said Maria, a Spanish journalist from Castellón. "Hopefully the march will get some international media coverage, and more people will become interested in the situation here in the Western Sahara."

The making of a protest

"Planning the trip was not easy," said Mariano Gonzalez, one of the protest’s main organizers.

Gonzalez is one of the members of a small group of Spanish students who have given themselves the name Saharawi Conscience. The group took up the task of planning the march, following in the footsteps of Willpower and Determination, a group of students from Madrid that arranged a similar protest in 2008, which was known as the Column of 1,000.

"I was a part of the Column of 1,000 last year, and we wanted to make sure that more Spaniards had the opportunity to take part in this experience," insisted Gonzalez. "Many people have come without having any idea of the real situation here, but most of them will become more politically involved after their five days in the camps.

"For me, the first time I saw the wall, I felt a mix of anger, indignation and hope," explained the Gonzalez. "Anger that the Saharawis have to undergo such suffering, indignation at our government for not assuming its international responsibilities and hope that our protest would help raise some awareness."

Noting that the majority of the Spanish population supports a referendum on Saharawi independence – for which the United Nations has expressed its support in dozens of resolutions – Gonzalez expressed his desire for more action from the international community.

"We are calling on the international community to take on their responsibilities, show their respect for justice and listen to the oppressed people of the world."

A march with an international flavour

In addition to the 300 Spaniards who have signed up for the march in front of the Moroccan wall, estimates as to the total number of international visitors in the camps run as high as 2,000. Arriving in 18 specially-charted flights, the travelers have come to visit Saharawi families they have lived with in years past, to share a few days with the Saharawi people for the first time or to participate in the protest march.

"Holy Week is when most Europeans have the time to come visit us in the camps," said Aishatu, a young Saharawi woman who works in the National Archive in the camp of Rabouni, "but I have never seen this many at once."

Participants will leave Rabouni at 7 am on Friday morning in Saharawi trucks and vans, and they will arrive in what is known to Saharawis as the Liberated Zone of the Western Sahara – for it is currently under the control of the Polisario Front, the leaders of the Saharawi movement for independence – at approximately 9 am. They will then march 2 km, waving flags of the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) and carry banners expressing their opposition to the Wall of Shame and their support for the Saharawi people’s peaceful struggle for independence.

Saharawi Conscience was able to organize the march with the help of the Saharawi Youth Union (UJSARIO), the National Saharawi Women’s Union (UNMS), the Polisario Front, the coordinator of Friends of the Saharawi People (a network of NGOs in Spain), and Willpower and Determination.

Muslim leaders and Christian volunteers host religious dialogues in Saharawi camps

In the Saharawi refugee camps outside of Tindouf, Algeria, Muslim and Christian leaders gather together once a year to peacefully discuss their faiths. First arranged in 2006 by volunteers coordinated by Christ the Rock Church in Menasha, Wisconsin, the inter-religious roundtables are triumphantly entering their fourth year. Christ the Rock first began working with the residents of the Saharawi camps in 1999. The program was originally dedicated to providing host families in the U.S. for Saharawi children, so that the youth could escape the scorching hot Saharan sun during the summer months. Over the years, the program has evolved and is now principally dedicated to running an English learning centre in the camp of Smara. Volunteers come from over a dozen states in the U.S. to teach English, offer sports instruction, and share life with the people in the camps. Outside of the English school, however, Christ the Rock participants continue to develop parallel programs to build bridges between people in the United States and Saharawis forced to live in the arid Saharan Desert. “We are open to any new ideas,” says Janet, the program’s founder and director. “We have just come here to serve the Saharawi people. They take the lead, and we just follow.” One of the group’s most innovative and successful projects has been a series of inter-religious seminars between leaders of the Muslim and Christian faiths. The roundtables take place in the camps, which are entirely inhabited by Sunni Muslims, and were originally conceived after Muslim prayer leaders approached Christ the Rock volunteers with a variety of questions concerning Christianity. “We were completely taken off-guard,” says Janet. “The Imam from Tindouf and the head Saharawi Imam came to us and suggested we arrange these dialogues to learn more about each other’s religions. “The Saharawis were disillusioned with other Muslim countries, who have not come to their aid, so it was very exciting to have them come to us seeking dialogue.” Participants to the first seminar were very closely considered. To avoid potential tension, only a few political leaders from the Polisario Front (the independence movement of the Saharawi people), local religious leaders, and volunteers from Christ the Rock were invited. “While a few of the attendees at the inaugural session did attempt to debate, the proceedings were for the most part peaceful and cordial,” assures the program’s founder. The second seminar was even more in-depth, and the principle Muslim religious leader from Algeria attended. The session also took on a more open and conversational tone. By the third meeting, participation even extended to an Algerian politician who had previously authored a book condemning Christianity and had written a law making activities aimed at converting Muslims in Algeria a criminal offense. “It was incredible,” recalls the Christ the Rock program’s director. “This man who had been vehemently opposed to Christianity came up to me and said he had been moved by what he had heard about our faith [during the seminar].” Topics for the three seminars, which are chosen by Saharawi prayer leaders, have included: “Who is Christ?”, “Who is Mohamed?”, and “Peace.” During each session, five presenters offer their views on the chosen topic. Local Muslim leaders attend the sessions, as well as Christian leaders who have had previous exposure to Islam. “I think my proudest moment was when the Saharawi Muslim prayer leader approached me and said, ‘We’ve never seen anything like this’,” recounts Janet. “Here in the Saharawi refugee camps we’ve successfully managed to host programs that have failed in the United States. It’s incredibly powerful.” For its 2009 seminar, Christ the Rock is opening the doors to religious leaders from a number of other countries, including South Africa, Spain, and France. Local Saharawi Muslim leaders and Christ the Rock volunteers hope to continue building cultural and religious bridges in the North African region. “We didn’t come here to convert anyone,” assures Janet. “We’re trying to open up conversation so we can better love our fellow man.”

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Saharawi school sets standard in education for disabled

Photos Jackson Howard and Timothy Kustusch A group of two dozen Saharawi students pass silently in a single-file line as they squeeze past a handful of foreigners in the narrow hallway. Were it not for the occasional limp of a few of the children, the visitors would have no idea that they are standing in the Centre for Education and Integration, a school for mentally and physically handicapped youth in the Saharawi refugee camp of Smara. The program was the brainchild of Boujima, a man known to the rest of the Saharawis as Castro, who came up with the idea in the mid-90s. In 1996, the school first opened its doors as a one-room centre serving those with both physical and mental disabilities. “This school is the only one of its kind in any refugee camp in the world,” boasts Castro in his Cuban-accented Spanish. “Even in third-world countries that have had their independence for decades, there is no centre like the one we have here.” Today the centre’s facilities consist of two classrooms, a cafeteria, a relaxation room, a “wild room”, and a library that doubles as the administrative centre. This last addition was constructed three years ago thanks to a generous gift of 6,000 euros donated by a Catalonian couple who had visited the school in the late 1990s. Perhaps the school’s most innovative room is its “wild room.” Here, the students are surrounded by a number of different objects and obstacles and are left to interact with each other and their environment. Monitors do not scold or reprimand the students for improper behaviour, but they use hands-on examples and activities to show the students how to live in peace with their surroundings and other people. Over-sized models of zippers, shoelaces, bags, and other every-day objects litter the floor and the walls, and are used by teachers in instructing the children. Another innovative space, the relaxation room, is compromised of soft couches and pillows, walls lined with rugs of subdued colours, chains of dimly-coloured lights, and a stereo that plays soothing music. “Here, the students come to be at peace,” says the school’s director and founder. “We have learned that punishing students for erratic and violent behaviour will only inspire more anxiety, so we bring them here to relax on their own.” Students are taught in groups based on the severity of their disabilities, and they are given the skills they need to function normally in their society. The school is dedicated to three main principles: education, integration, and autonomy. “Some families do not know how to react to their children’s disabilities, so we teach the students how to be productive members of their family and their community,” explains Castro. One unique program offered by the program is an arts and crafts micro-business. Students paint paintings and sew small dolls and sell them to visitors. The children are then given the earnings from the sales and instructed to go to the market on their way home to purchase vegetables, rice, and potatoes for their family to consume. Similar schools are now run by the government in all of the five Saharawi refugee camps, but opening the first centre in Smara was an uphill struggle. “At first we were met with some resistance from the Polisario government,” maintains Castro. “They were not excited about the idea of redirecting resources from the movement for Western Saharan independence to the education of our handicapped children. But once we opened this school, they saw its merits and applauded our efforts.” When he first came up with the idea, people looked at the short, yet energetic man as if he were crazy. “That experience helps me to better associate with the students,” he says with a grin. The school’s director insists that he received a divine calling to open the school back in the early 90s. “One day, Allah tapped me on the shoulder and said, ‘Castro, get up! There are children who need your help.’ In the Koran and in Allah’s eyes, we are all equal – we are all the same, and so we all deserve the same treatment.” The running of the centre requires tireless work and patience by Castro and the rest of the volunteer staff. In what may be the understatement of the year, the school’s director admitted that the education of handicapped youth in a refugee camp run on humanitarian aid is “not easy work.” Nonetheless, the dedication of this Saharawi and the rest of the camp residents who support his efforts attest to the open and advanced society defined by the Saharawi culture. In these arid and inhospitable lands, children who are normally shunned in societies throughout the world are treated with dignity and respect. Perhaps most telling of the school’s mission in the Saharawi refugee camps is a sign painted in Spanish that adorns the door of one of the school’s classrooms: “Here, neither trees nor flowers grow, but human beings blossom.”

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