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The Occupation We Choose to Ignore’

Do you know who I am? I am a Sahrawi. The land to which I refer is what is known today as the non-self-governing territory ofWestern Sahara. My country was colonized by the Spanish and the French between 1884 and 1975, divided in two and occupied by Moroccan and Mauritanian forces thereafter, and has been ruled exclusively by the Kingdom of Morocco from 1979 until the present.

The Western Sahara: forgotten first source of the Arab Spring

this is one part of the Arab Spring that western governments don't want to talk about. And their silence, and the UN's complicity in it, is why that repression continues, and a terrible injustice is perpetuated.

ISS - News - The Western Sahara and North African People’s Power

Respect the right of individuals to peacefully express their opinions regarding the status and future of the Western Sahara and to document violations of human rights

King of Morocco to be biggest benefactor of EU trade agreement - Telegraph

it has emerged that the single biggest beneficiary of the deal will be the King of Morocco, who is head of one of the three largest agricultural producers in the north African country and lays claim to 12,000 hectares of the nation's most fertile farmland.

North African Dispatches Africa’s Forgotten Colony

Oblivion it seems is the current reality for the arid North African territory of Western Sahara; often referred to as Africa’s ‘Last Colony’. In my opinion, it would be more accurate to describe it as ‘Africa’s Forgotten Colony’.

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Oct 29, 2013

Voices from a refugee camp: Should Sahrawis return to war with Morocco?

BY: LARISA EPATKO

A man looks over the Dakhla refugee camp. Photos by Larisa Epatko

DAKHLA CAMP, Algeria | For decades, the Western Sahara liberation movement, known as the Polisario Front, has been locked in a struggle for independence from Morocco. It's not a battle of guns but of wills, Polisario officials say.

Read more about life in the refugee camps.

Every four years, a group of 2,000 elected people, including civilians, military members, Sahrawis from the refugee camps and from Western Sahara, and members of the diaspora, meets to vote on the president of the Polisario -- and on whether they should return to war with Morocco.

The vote to return to war generally falls along generational lines: Older Sahrawis, who experienced the fighting in the 1970s and 1980s, tend to want to wait for the diplomatic efforts to run their course, while the younger Sahrawis, some of whom were born after the 1991 U.N. ceasefire agreement, are itching to return to war.

They shared some of their opinions, through translators:

Omar Hassena Ahreyem, 31, director of the youth council at the Boujdour refugee camp:

"We know that no one wishes to go back to war, and we know that life is very precious. But it is like we are already buried alive. I think we have to break this whole cycle. What do we have left to lose? I have a university degree. What about my ambitions?"

Goambara Abdou, 25, a high school teacher in the Smara refugee camp:

"History has shown there are countries that have obtained their independence, like South Sudan. We have hope, and we're ready to relaunch the armed conflict and draw the attention of the world to our cause."

Abba Mohamad Lamin, 29, a hospital worker in the Laayoune refugee camp:

"We might be accused of having violent leanings, but that's not correct. We think that the international community was given more than enough time and we gave them our trust. We blame the Polisario for the failures of the negotiations (with the United Nations in 1991)."

Khadad Emhamed, Polisario diplomat and negotiator to the U.N. mission in Western Sahara, acknowledged the frustration. "As a human being, as a refugee and as a Sahrawi, I accept their comment. I cannot say it is rational or 100 percent right, but I accept their comment."

Emhamed said it would be difficult to return to war, but that Morocco wasn't doing much to win over the Sahrawis in the disputed territory of Western Sahara by clamping down on protests and jailing demonstrators for long terms.

"Morocco has been unable to make it accepting to the population in Western Sahara that they are in good hands."