By Sally Hobbs

At a time when the long history of colonial land theft is at the fore with the unimaginable level of suffering being experienced in Gaza, the case of Western Sahara may be going under the radar. Fifty years ago the Saharawi were driven from their own land by  Morocco which unlawfully annexed the Western Saharan territory as the Spanish colonial power abandoned it. Since then, Western Saharan people have been living in refugee camps in the Algerian desert, in the most inhospitable conditions for human life. Last week, the temperature was 48 degrees C.

Connections in our area have a long history and we have a really exciting present-day project. I was one of the founders of Levenshulme Woodcraft Folk in the 1990s, alongside other local parents, at a time when there was virtually nothing for local children to do outside school times. During the 1990s and 2000s, we formed strong links to the camps, hosting children’s visits here three times  – the Mayor showed the children around the Town Hall on one visit; the local paper displayed a full page photo of local kids and Saharawis at our local baths; Gerald Kaufmann MP was also featured on the steps of the baths, welcoming them, and we went on many trips, including camping in Wales.

The experience was definitely very enriching for many local children, as well as for our visitors. Over the years, some parents and now grown-up children including my own have visited the camps and participated in projects there and in the annual Western Sahara marathon organised by Sandblast. 

Since these visits, one of the children who stayed with our community here, Fatimalu, is now a grown woman with children in the camps. She is leading a truly transformational project; she has successfully built and is developing vegetable and tree-growing in the Sahara desert, to enable the refugees – who rely on food aid, with a recent WHO report expressing growing concern at the high levels of malnutrition there – to access fresh, home grown fruit and veg in the most inhospitable place imaginable. Grow Hope Saharawi is now a registered charity supporting this project with local directors from our area.

Fatimalu will be accompanying this group, together with two teachers from Sandblast Charity, who work with these young people, focusing on English language learning, creative and performance arts.  The group are here as part of a longer visit to London and to the 100th Anniversary International Woodcraft Folk camp in Nottingham. 

The context is ever more urgent. Over 43% of nations recognise Saharawi Democratic Arab Republic as an independent country, and there has been a UN mandate to hold a referendum of all Saharawi citizens since 1991, reaffirmed most recently in 2019.

Despite this, no referendum has taken place and numerous Western countries – Spain included – are now supportive of the occupying Morocco’s claim. Morocco has now put forward proposals for some autonomy for Western Sahara in a devolved region under Moroccan control.  

In a recent visit to Morocco, UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy described the proposal as the most “credible, viable and pragmatic solution” for ending  the dispute. Stakes are high; lucrative trade deals are in prospect, particularly infrastructure projects with the forthcoming World Cup in 2030 to be hosted  by  Morocco, Spain and Portugal.

Since then, the UK Minister Hamish Falconer reaffirmed that the government will continue to support the UN-led political efforts to reach a just, lasting, and mutually acceptable political solution based on compromise. But there is no clarity about what that compromise might mean for Western Saharans, and in particular for the 170,000 and generations of displaced and refugee Saharawi. Their position is and always has been precarious, dependent on international aid and Algerian support. The potential for these stateless families to become hostages to the decisions of colonial negotiations is great.  It is ever more important to press for government backing to the UN resolution and to raise awareness of the situation.

Please raise the profile of the Western Saharan dispute and put forward resolutions in branches and trade unions and press MPs to confirm:

–       continued support for Saharawi people’s democratic rights

–       protect the human rights and self-determination of the Saharawi people

–       and increase UK humanitarian support for the refugees.

Donate to Grow Hope Saharawi using this link.

Sally Hobbs is a Palestine supporter and activist in Manchester.

Image: https://freesvg.org/anonymous-flag-of-western-sahara. Licence: CC0 1.0 Universal CC0 1.0 Deed