Pour relancer des pourparlers bloqués depuis 2012, l’envoyé onusien pour le Sahara occidental a convié les différentes parties impliquées – le Polisario, le Maroc, l’Algérie et la Mauritanie – à une réunion à Genève les 5 et 6 décembre. Une militante sahraouie revient sur le chemin parcouru et explique les aspirations de son peuple.
Dans Courrier international.
Fatma el-Mehdi is a Western Saharan activist who has been a refugee in Algeria for more than forty years. She is the secretary general of the National Union of Sahrawi Women. She was recognized as a Woman PeaceMaker in 2016 by the Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace and Justice in San Diego, California. Lisa Söderlindh and I spoke with Fatma el-Mehdi in the Smara refugee camp near Tindouf in March.
Read interview in Muftah Magazine.
As the UN renews its mission in Western Sahara, Frank Elbers reports on the continued tension between local governments, natural resource companies and the Sahrawi people.
Full article in OpenCanada.
The UN Security Council has renewed the mandate of the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO), which is responsible for peacekeeping in Western Sahara, but – in a surprise move – only for six months. The decision is an attempt to break the twenty-seven-year impasse around the disputed territory.
Read further in Muftah Magazine.
On February 27, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled that a fisheries agreement between Morocco and the European Union is not applicable to Western Sahara, which Morocco has occupied since the former colonial power Spain withdrew in 1975. The ruling followed a decision by a court in South Africa earlier that month, holding that 50,000 tonnes of phosphate mined in Western Sahara was illegally sold by the Moroccan government. Both court cases were initiated by civil society organizations that are part of a growing international solidarity movement for the Sahrawi cause. Is this boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement for an independent Western Sahara, often called Africa’s last colony, finally gaining traction?
Read full article in Muftah Magazine.
BEIRUT — After an absence of 33 years Morocco rejoined the African Union (AU), weakening the prospect of Western Sahara, Africa’s last colony, ever becoming independent. Both the Moroccan government and representatives of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) welcomed the decision. Yet the promised, UN-mandated referendum on the independence of Western Sahara is now more unlikely to happen than ever.
“Morocco wants to work from the independence to get Western Sahara expelled from the AU and once and for all lay to rest the whole issue of Western Sahara and its claims to independence,” Liesl Louw-Vaudran, an analyst at the Institute of Security Studies in South Africa who has been following the AU for 20 years, told Newsweek. “I don’t think there’s anyone who thinks that total independence for Western Sahara is still on the cards.”
Simon Allison, who covers Africa for the Daily Maverick, believes that Morocco’s all-out diplomatic offensive to improve relations with the African continent may give African leaders — think particularly of Algeria, Nigeria and South Africa — new leverage to move forward on the referendum on self-determination. Yet he concludes: “That’s the optimistic take. It’s perhaps more plausible, however, that thanks to Morocco’s deep purse and political muscle, Western Sahara has just lost a whole lot of its African allies – making its dreams of independence less likely than ever before.”
SADR president and Polisario leader Brahim Ghali said in an interview that Morocco’s rejoining the African Union does not change the situation fundamentally. “We always look for the peaceful way” to resolve the conflict, Ghali told AFP at a Sahrawi refugee camp in Tindouf, southwestern Algeria. “But all options remain open,” he said, alluding to the possibility of a return to armed struggle.
The situation in Western Sahara can be compared with the Occupied Palestinian Territories. All the talk over the years of pan-Arab and pan-African solidarity with the Palestinians and Sahrawis has translated into very little action. Israel and Morocco, with their powerful economies, powerful armies, and powerful Western allies — hold all the cards.
40-YEAR SAHRAWI STRUGGLE FOR INDEPENDENCE
SMARA – The Sahrawis were displaced during the Western Sahara War (1975-76) by Moroccan forces and have been living in refugees camps near Tindouf, Algeria ever since. With most of the estimated 90,000 to 135,000 Sahrawis still living in the camps, their situation is one of the most protracted refugee crisis in the world.
The limited opportunities for self-reliance in the harsh desert environment have forced the Sahrawis to rely on international humanitarian assistance for their survival. However, the Sahrawi camps differ from most refugee camps in the level of self-organisation. Most affairs in camps are run by the refugees themselves, with relatively little outside interference. The five camps are governed by the Polisario Front, the government of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR). SADR’s government in exile and administration are located in the Rabouni refugee camp.
A photo essay.
!["Long live the RASD [Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic]"](https://i0.wp.com/frankelbers.info/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/22Long-live-the-RASD-Sahrawi-Arab-Democratic-Republic22.jpg?ssl=1)
!["Long live the RASD [Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic]"](https://i0.wp.com/frankelbers.info/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Monthly-distribution-of-flour-by-the-World-Food-Program.jpg?ssl=1)
!["Long live the RASD [Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic]"](https://i0.wp.com/frankelbers.info/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Banner-for-divestment-campaign-in-Western-Sahara.jpg?ssl=1)
