The sahara conflict and its sociological side

The refugee camps history, the conditions of living and the current situation

«…Il y a quand même Tindouf, vous ne pouvez vraiment pas méconnaître que Tindouf
est certainement, parmi toutes les injustices, la plus flagrante et la plus patente…»
Conférence de presse de S.M Hassan 2, 24 Octobre 1963

South and west of Morocco lays the disputed territory of Western Sahara. It was
once a Spanish colony, but when they left in 1975, the Moroccans moved in. The
inhabitant who didn't want to be Moroccans were forced to flee. They were given
land near Tindouf in Algeria for four temporary refugee camps, which is where they
still are over a quarter of a century later. The military and political organization of
those refugees is called the Polisario front; their job is to keep the flag flying, make
sure the world doesn't forget their “plight” and at the same time ensure that the
inhabitant are fed in water in one of the most inhospitable corners of the Sahara.

Indeed, the temporary refugees live in such conditions that we cannot even imagine.
They have been separated from their families and are forced to stay in the camps.
They often receive humanitarian aid from non-governmental organizations and are
still waiting from a decision in their favor to be taken by the government. According
to Hammad Ould Yaacoub, a chief of a Sahrawi tribe, all the refugees are ready to
come back to Morocco, and an important majority is favorable to the autonomy plan
for the Sahara under the sovereignty of Morocco proposed by Mohammed VI who had
tried to find an alternative to the conflict. However, this has a long way to go until it
is applied for the only reason that the Polisario completely reject this solution and
refuses the negotiations with Morocco; the Front is also keeping the refugees in the
camps in very bad conditions, plus, it is violating their rights as we will see later. In
order to understand the situation of the refugee in the camps of Tindouf, we first
have to understand how those people found themselves there and what are the
reasons that made them flee to this province of Algeria.

It goes back to 6 november1975, which is the date of an event that has a very
special meaning in the hearts of every Moroccans.

During the waves of colonization of the 20th century, Western Sahara was occupied
by Spain which also took control of other areas in Africa. After the independence of
Morocco in 1956, the party of Istiqlal, which was the most dominant party in
Morocco established a map of “Grand Morocco” which was supposed to include,
among others, the territory of Western Sahara as it was stated in the website of the
ARSO (Association de soutien à un référendum libre et régulier au Sahara
Occidental). After Spain left the Western Sahara under the pressure of the United
Nations, Hassan II initiated a great project. The Green March was indeed one of the
greatest plans of the visionary King Hassan II; it constituted the decisive element
which permitted Morocco to take back the provinces of the Sahara (La Marche Verte
377). According to Stephen O.Hughes “It was a historical landmark, whatever its
justifications or consequences” ( Morocco under King Hasan 231). In the 6th of
November 1975, 350 000 Moroccans marched into the desert of the Western Sahara
carrying copies of the Koran and Moroccan flags. They pushed peacefully Spain to
leave the province and it was a success: Morocco was able to take back the “natural
extension of its territory” without a drop of blood.

While Moroccans were enjoying the victory of the recovery of the Sahara, Sahrawi
people fled to Tindouf because they didn't want to be a part of the Moroccan
Kingdom and the Polisario front (Frente Popular de Liberación de Saguía el Hamra y
Río de Oro) was growing up and took Tindouf as a headquarter for its Organization.

When they can escape, Sahrawi come back to their homeland and recognize the
sovereignty of Morocco; they were permitted to come back by Hassan II who
declared this famous quote “The homeland is clement and merciful”. Were also
permitted to come back, responsible of the Polisario Front who were giving facilities
to re-integrate Morocco.

However, when they don't have the possibility to escape, Sahrawi are undergoing the
abuse of the Polisario Front which is forcing them to stay in the camps as well as it
is depriving them from their basic right.

According to (UNHCR: United nations high commission for refugees), 55 000 refugees
are still confined in the camps run by the Polisario. They are denied from the
fundamental right of freedom of speech as well as they are denied of movement,
which constitutes a violation of the 26th article of the Convention relating to Status
of Refugees. It is forbidden to them to leave the camps as stated in the website of
the international NGO Freedom For All ; they are also deprived from family life
because first, some members of their families remained in the Sahara and second
because the members of families are dispersed in the four main camps: husbands
and wife are separate as well as are children's and parents and so forth.

Sahrawi people are not only abused, but they also suffer from malnutrition. Indeed,
as does every camps of refugees, Tindouf receives humanitarian aid from some
countries like Spain and also from N.G.Os; but it is that those goods are forfeited by
the Polisario and sold in black market in order to get funds to finance armaments.
Refugees are also subject to torture if they oppose to the regime.

In every day life, the matter is worst. Florence Beaugé explains it in her article, in
Smara camp for example, the nearest water supplies 16 miles away from the camp,
over the centuries, this water has felted down from the Atlas Mountain to feed huge
underground reservoirs; and because the water is impure, bleach has to be added.
The tankers shuttle back and forth across the desert day in and day out; without
them, Smara camps will die of thirst. People live in tents which is symbolic to them:
it means for them that this situation is not definitive and that they will return back to
their lands if, luckily, they get the chance to escape.

Recently, some of those refugee has this chance. According to Driss Bennani, 8000
Sahraoui had rallied Morocco over the last 30 years and the pace accelerated in
2010. Those new rallied come in waves of 10 to 15 people, for unknown reasons. In
2010, 233 people came back to Morocco after they grew up in the camps of Tindouf (
Telquel 32, 33). They probably consider the return to Morocco as their main
alternatives in order to have a better life. Moroccan government is working hard in
order to integrate the new rallied: it is offering them houses and cars, plus a monthly
revenue of 1250 Dhs without any counterpart. However, Moroccan government
should be careful; people can take advantage of the situation like the scandal of
Gjijimat: Mauritanian people came to Morocco and were given houses and facilities,
they sold everything and went back to Mauritania. These facilities can easily turn the
rallied into mercenaries which only serve for material gain.

It is therefore very important to integrate those rallied, not only by giving them
houses and cars, but through their re-insertion into the professional environment and
also by providing them with formation to make them useful in social life so that they
will be able to find a certain stability.

The current situation of the Sahara is pretty complex. Sahrawi people have suffered
so in the refugee camps that Morocco seems heaven to them and that they are ready
to accept everything. Every refugee is wishing to rally Morocco someday, but the
Polisario Front prevents them from doing this since those are denied of freedom of
movement. Refugees are favorable to the autonomy plan which most of them find to
be a their families and putting an end to years of suffering in Tindouf.

The last news concerning the Sahara relate these new rally and their eventual
reintegration in Morocco among their families and relatives as well as it is debating
the issue of the autonomy plan or the independence of the Sahara. This conflict
which has protracted is not near to be solved, unless both sides agree on a solution.
The plan of autonomy seemed to be an intelligent alternative, but it has been
strongly rejected by the Polisario. As we say we cannot have our cake and eat it; the
Polisario will have soon or later to react: whether it will accept the proposition of
Morocco or it will answer back by a violent armed conflict which, a part from being
bloody, will plunge the region into the chaos both politically and economically.

A brief history of the territory and its people. 2005. <http://www.arso.org/05-1.htm>.

Beaugé, Florence. "Dans les camps de Tindouf, 158 000 Sahraouis attendent depuis
trente ans un avenir qui ne vient pas ." Le Monde (2008). "The Green March and the
war in Western Sahara." O.Hughes, Stephen. Morocco under King Hassan. Ithaca
press, 2001.