Category Archives: General

Notes from the Western Saharan Refugee Camps

Thanks to the support of the FiSahara Film Festival and the Arab Studies Institute, I spent about a week in the Dakhla Sahrawi refugee camp, about 170 kilometers outside of Tindouf in southern Algeria. I went in my capacity as a freelance writer, graduate student, and activist. During my time there, I stayed with a Sahrawi refugee family and met a number of Sahrawi refugees, international filmmakers, journalists, and members of the Polisario and Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic government.

Going into this trip, I carried with me a series of baggages that weren’t the kind you could measure on a scale. My privilege was the biggest baggage. As a Moroccan-American, I came from two countries who have being powerful actors in the Western Saharan conflict: Morocco, the country that invaded the Western Saharan territory in 1975, and the United States, the country that largely supplies the military and financial aid that allows Morocco to sustain its (violent) presence in the territory. Continue reading →

Here Comes the Money: Solar Power and Self-Determination in Western Sahara

Mel Chin for Creative Time Reports
Artist Mel Chin proposes a Western Saharan currency, backed by solar power, that would help the Sahrawi people achieve economic and political independence while simultaneously combatting climate change.

The HSBC ads at Newark International Airport could not have been more appropriate for my trek to the Sahrawi refugee camps in Tindouf, Algeria. As I ambled through the jet bridge with my carry-on, color-coordinated images of demure North African women met my eyes, accompanied by some facts assembled by the bank—“0.3% of Saharan solar energy could power Europe”—and a self-aggrandizing but, for me, prescient message: “Do you see a world of potential? We do.”

Continue reading →

Violations against human rights in the Western Sahara after the April 25, 2013 UNSC Resolution 2099

Between April 26, 2013 (the date on which the Security Council adopted Resolution 2099) and April 5th, 2014, Morocco has continued its usual repressive policy with regard to Sahrawi civilians in the part of the Western Sahara it occupies and in Southern Morocco.

In fact:

– the withdrawal of the resolution proposed before the Security Council by the United States in April 2013, a proposal on which the Sahrawi population and human rights defenders had been relying heavily in order to put an end to the human rights’ violations by the Moroccan State,

– Security Council Resolution 2099/2013, which did notbroaden the mandate of MINURSO to cover human rights monitoring and protection in the Western Sahara,
Continue reading →

Australia Western Sahara Association presents a film about a remarkable young activist fighting for a free Western Sahara

Jamie Parker MP, Member for Balmain, will host this special screening of The Runner at NSW Parliament House

The Honorable Dr Meredith Burgmann will introduce the film

The Runner is the story of a world champion long-distance runner Salah Hmatou Ameidan whose journey transformed him from an athlete into the symbol of a national liberation movement. He comes from Western Sahara, under Moroccan occupation since 1975. His story is an inspiring one.

Wednesday 14 May 2014

6.00pm for 6.15pm start

Location: Theatrette, NSW Parliament House, 6 Macquarie Street

The Runner film

Sons of the Clouds screened in Melbourne

In collaboration between Filmoteca and the Australia Western Sahara Association (AWSA), The Sons of the Clouds documentary was screened to a large crowd at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI) in Melbourne.

The film was introduced by Cate Lewis, Vice-President of AWSA, saying “Every year, in the most remote of the four refugee camps near Tindouf in south west Algeria, a magical, miraculous thing happens,”

“ The Sahara Film Festival takes place on a big screen outside at night. It’s called FiSahara and last October saw its 10th anniversary.”

Continue reading →

DONATIONS NEEDED FOR WESTERN SAHARA REFUGEE CAMP HOSPITAL

SHIPPING CONTAINER TO LEAVE FROM MELBOURNE 2014

MEDICAL SUPPLIES, LAPTOPS, SCHOOL SUPPLIES,

DONATIONS IN KIND DONATIONS TAX DEDUCTIBLE THROUGH UNION AID ABROAD

APHEDA http://www.apheda.org.au (Please specify Western Sahara)

Contact:

Ron Guy 0428 173 970

Georgia Vlassopoulos 0425 702 975

[email protected] – https://awsa.org.au

The state of the Western Sahara

Jadaliyya 11 February 2014
By Allison L McManus

This electronic roundtable of articles describes various historical and political contours of the Western Saharan conflict. It particularly addresses the tireless stream of misinformation and distraction that is produced by state media of Algeria and, especially, Morocco.

This roundtable is most interesting for its inclusion of the voice of the Sahrawi themselves. Many Sahrawi (including those featured in this article) write and advocate quite prominently for their cause.

Read transcript >>

Western Sahara Review / Revista del Sahara Occidental 3 now published

January 2014 – Western Sahara Review / Revista del Sahara Occidental 3

Articles in this 3rd edition include:

The need for UN ownership of the Western Sahara dispute [written by Mathias Vaa, former Danish diplomat currently working for the non-profit diplomatic group Independent Diplomat, which advises the Polisario Front]
Western Sahara and Palestine – economic and legal strategies to end occupation
Making music for freedom [Sara McGuinness describes the work she and others along with Saharawi musicians are doing to develop and the way Saharawi music is documented and distributed within the camps and beyond]

Read Western Sahara Review – No.3 >>

Mr. Mohamed Abdelaziz, President of Republic attends Nelson Mandela memorial service

Tue, 12/10/2013
Johannesburg, Dec 10, 2013 (SPS) – The President of the Republic, Secretary General of the Frente Polisario Mr. Mohamed Abdelaziz has attended along with more than 100 world leaders the official memorial service, took place today morning at FNB Stadium (Soccer City) in Johannesburg, of the deceased South African leader Nelson Mandela.Read more >>

Will Obama remind Morocco of its referendum duty?

RUDDY: A long-needed resolution to Western Sahara’s limbo
Frank Ruddy. The Washington Times, 20 November 2013
20 November : Morocco’s King Mohammed VI arrives in Washington this Thursday, and since he has made clear his interest in deepening the U.S.-Moroccan relationship, he will likely be received by President Obama. He will emphasize issues on which the United States and Morocco agree, but he should also be prepared to deal with issues on which his country and policies are squarely at odds with American values and interests.

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