From the desert | Project

In fact, the case is evident: For more than forty years Morocco has already illegitimately occupied the Western Sahara. A UN mission that was
initiated in 1991 was to prepare a referendum for the independence of the Western Sahara, however, the mission can be regarded as failure.
About 165.000 Sahrawi people, the native population of the Western Sahara, have lived in exile in Algerian refugee camps for three decades –
separated from their families and their homeland by a 2500 kilometer-long sand wall in the desert that was built by Morocco and is secured
by mines and soldiers.
All those, who stayed, are being controlled, marginalized and discriminated against by Morrocan settlers. Anyone who speaks about
independence will end up in prison.
Only a small section of the former Spanish colony is being considered as liberated. This section is under the control of the liberation front
Frente Polisario which proclaimed it an own republic that was acknowledged by over eighty other nations.

Dajbaja Elmami sits on 20.10.2013 in her tent in the refugee camp Rabouni in Algeria. She lives in the camp since 1978 after the invasion of Western Sahara through Morocco began. Photo: Marcus Simaitis
Aram Lhatra in her house on 13.02.2014 in Laayoune in Western Sahara. “After a peaceful demonstration I went back home and the moroccan police was following me. I had my baby on my arm and my other four sons were around as well. They told me they’re going to kill me and my sons. I said a slogan for self-determination and independence. Then they put fuel on the tent in the yard and set it on fire. They burned all my belongings. Then they hit me with a rock in the eye, beat me with a stick, kicked me – I still had the 9 months old baby in my arms. They also hit my son who is just three years old.  My eye had to be fixed with six stitches but the eye is still blind. They threatened me if they ever see me again taking part in a demonstration they’re going to kill or kidnap me. All my kids watched that. Now one of my sons is always hiding behind my back when someone knocks on the door. My daughter is afraid ever since and wants to leave the house. Just last night a police car stopped in front of the house. They said they’re going to rape me. Every night the police passes by our house and when I go out they’re following me. I don’t have any problem if they hurt me but I cannot watch my kids being beaten. We need someone to protect us.” Photo: Marcus Simaitis
Foto: Marcus Simaitis
El Bakaim Mohamed, recruit of the Polisario Front, stands on 22.10.2013 outside a barrack in the algerian desert. Many young Saharawis entering the Polisario army and says that they have enough of the decades-long negotiations of the UN with the morrocans and want back to armed struggle. Photo: Marcus Simaitis
Sid Brahim Jamaa steht am 16.10.2013 vor seinem Lehmhaus im sahrauischen Flüchtlingslager Smara in Algerien. 1979 ist er während der Invasion der Westsahara durch Marokko nach Smara geflohen. "Die derzeitige Situation hat keine Bedeutung. Es ist kein Krieg und kein Frieden, das macht keinen Sinn." Foto: Marcus Simaitis
Mohamdy El Gouth Buzid sits on 21.10.2013  in his tent in the refugee camp Smara in Algeria. Twenty years ago he stepped on a Anti-Personell mine on his way to the Morrocan wall to demonstrate against the occupation. Photo: Marcus Simaitis
Ein Vater kommt mit seinem Sohn am 15.10.2013 aus seinem Zelt in dem sahrauischen Flüchtlingslager Smara in Algerien. Als die Flüchtlingslager vor fast 40 Jahren errichtet wurden bestand es nur aus diesen Zelten. Mittlerweile bauten die Flüchtlinge einfache Lehmhäuser in deren Mitte für jede Familie ein Zelt steht. Foto: Marcus Simaitis

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