Human rights forgotten?

A few weeks ago a group of human rights activists from the occupied territories came to visit the refugee camps for one week. When they returned to La'ayoun they were met by 1500 Moroccan civilians who beat them at the airport. This is one of many events staged by Moroccan authorities to spark conflict between Morroccan and Saharawi people.

The conflict has lasted for 35 years, and while the refugees wait in the desert, the human rights situation in the occupied territories deteriorates. It is completely incomprehensible that the UN mission MINURSO does not have a mandate to monitor and report on the human rights violations committed by Morocco. Polisario has stated that it invites the UN to monitor the human rights situation in the refugee camps. Morocco however, will not accept that MINURSO should have a human rights mandate in the occupied territories.

How is it possible for Morocco to keep the UN from monitoring the human rights situation? To achieve this, it is necessary to have powerful friends in the Security Council. With France on its side, Morocco can ensure that MINURSO does not get a human rights mandate. This is because France is a permanent member in the Security Council, and can use its veto against an enlargement of MINURSO's mandate.

That MINURSO has still not been given a human rights mandate shows not only that Morocco finds support in France, but also that the attention given to the conflict by the international community is minimal. Given the severity of the human rights violations in the occupied territories, and the difficult situation for the refugees in the camps in Algeria, it is incomprehensible that the international community seems both paralyzed and indifferent to the conflict.

What will it take to make the United Nations and the international community realize the injustice of the Moroccan occupation, and assume their responsibility to protect the human rights of all people?

Aid as a political game

If a family here was to live on their rations of aid, they would eat meat two times a year, and by no means have enough food. The reason why people here have the food that they need, is not thanks to the aid that they receive, but rather due to the family members that they have that work abroad, like in Spain. Those who do not have family abroad, are still included, due to the solidarity and collective sharing of the people. In this way, the real aid comes from their own families. Further, another type of support that really makes a difference, is the opportunities that countries like Algeria, Cuba and Libya give young Saharawis to study in secondary school and in university for free.

What is the purpose of aid when it is unable to cover the needs of the refugees here? The leader of the Saharawi journalist union UPES, Malainin Lakhal, told us that in his opinion, the main reason to uphold the aid flows is for the Saharawi state to maintain good relations with as many foreign countries as possible. The Western Sahara conflict is a forgotten conflict in many ways, and so the idea is that the countries that give aid, will also give more attention to the conflict. Even though the media coverage of Aminatou Haidar’s hunger strike was good in countries like Spain, the urgency that is needed to resolve the conflict is not present. After 35 years of waiting in the hot desert, insufficient amounts of aid does not suffice. If countries like Norway were truely interested in ending this conflict, they would contribute with political support, recognizing the independent Saharawi state, and speaking out against the grave human rights abuses committed against Saharawis in the territories that Morocco occupies. A few potatoes and some wheat will not enable the Saharawi refugees to return to their rightful homeland.

Our sister's wedding

Plates and cuttlery, tabels and casseroles, blankets and cushions, soap and water in big quantities were just some of the things that were brought to our family’s house the days before the wedding of our sister, Fatimatu. The Saharawi traditional wedding celebrations are unique and absolutely amazing. Being a part of the family that organizes the wedding, we were able to get a wole new impression and a better view of this special event.

The Saharawi wedding celebration is held at the house of the bride and her family. In Saharawi tradition the freshly baked husband and the wife will move to a house or tent near the wife’s family after the wedding. The wedding will last for two or three days. The first day is the day of the bride and the second day is the day of the groom. These two days are held for the family, extended family and friends who come as guests to the big tent that is put up near the bride’s family. The bride and the groom are themselves not present at this big celebration. The third day the bride has a seperate, small party with her closest friends and the groom does the same with his friends.

Every wedding is slightly different, but this is what we experienced at our family’s celebration.
The first day of our sister’s wedding was a Wednesday, so Tuesday afternoon and evening we were busy helping the family cutting vegetables, puting up the tents and organizing things for the next day. We also had our henna made on our feet and hands. Our sister, Fatimatu, spent the day in Tindouf, going to hammam, getting henna and braids. Wednesday morning Maria and I met with some of our student at the school where we teach English. We did not meet to have an English lesson with them, but to pick them up and take them to the wedding together with the goat that Maria and I bought for Fatimatu as a gift. Its Saharawi tradition to bring gifts to the wedding accompanied by hunking cars and lots of noise. When we arrived to the family, the goat was tied to the big tent and our students were invited in to make tea. At noon lunch was served to all the guests and the camel that was killed the same morning served its purpose.
In the afternoon more cars loaded with gifts arrived to the family. Typical gifts are things that are useful for the house of the new couple such as blankets, tea sets, cushions and sofas. In the evening more guests came to celebrate, drink tea and have dinner.
The next day the bride stayed in the house of her sister, which is close to the rest of the family. Her she was visited by her friends and later on by her husband and his family. At noon a band consisting of four musicians and a singer came to perform in the big tent. The people formed a circle around a free space in the middle of the tent. This free space was used as the dancefloor and as the brides sisters, of course we had to spend a couple of songs trying to imitate the Saharawi dance style.
After the music celebration, the lunch (a second camel) was served and the guests returned to their homes.

To us the wedding celebration was a great experience. To be able to contribute and actively take part in the activities here is what brings us the most joy. We feel that as every day goes by we become a greater part this society and Sahara becomes a greater part of us.