Western Sahara

[davidbfpo]

Western Sahara, formerly Spanish Morocco, was occupied by Morocco in 1976 against the wishes of its then population, some resisted - known as Polisario - and fled into the deserts of South West Algeria. That is a very short history.

This photojournalist's blog popped up the other day:http://stevefranck.wordpress.com/201...forgotten-war/

Which links to a charity working amongst Polisario:http://www.sandblast-arts.org/

[davidbfpo]

A rare report from within the Polisario camps in the Algerian desert:

After 40 years of fighting in the desert for their unrecognized country, the people of Western Sahara may be on the cusp of collapsing into extremism — and it could be the thing that saves them.

Link:http://www.foreignpolicy.com/article...ara_terrorism?

[davidbfpo]

Tension is rising in the camps in Algeria, amongst the young:

... young people in the camps wanted to go to war because they had seen how their parents lived “and they don’t want to live like them.

Joining a war without prospect of victory makes no sense but the perspective is different in the camps: the emotions play a bigger role there and refugees have lost faith in the international community. “Young people don’t want to bear more and, even if we don’t arrive until the end, at least we will teach something to Morocco,

Link:https://www.opendemocracy.net/open-s...9s-last-colony

[davidbfpo]

Dozens of United Nations international staffers pulled out of their Western Sahara mission on Sunday after Morocco demanded they leave because of Ban Ki-Moon’s remarks about the disputed territory....Rabat accused Ban earlier this month of no longer being neutral in the Western Sahara dispute....Morocco said he used the word “occupation” to describe its annexation of the region...

Link:http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News...-mission-.html

[davidbfpo]

An ICG report update, their first since June 2007, on this little reported conflict.
Link:https://www.crisisgroup.org/middle-e...-refugee-camps