«…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>.
Bennani, Driss. "Que faire des ralliés?" Telquel (2010): 32, 33.
Basri, Driss. "La marche verte: Une nouvelle dynamique dans le processus
démocratique." La marche verte. Plon, 1990. 377.
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.
The Sahrawi refugees. 2008. <http://www.freedom-for-all.org/saharawi-refugees.php>.
Tindouf flood relief effort: UNHCR thanks Algerian authorities, Italy, Portugal,
European Commission. 2009. <http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-
bin/texis/vtx/search?page=search&docid=43fb0f5a16&query=tindouf>.
Ould Hammad, Yaacoub. The rally of refugee in Tindouf 2010.