Hi!
I知 Joanna, I知 currently doing an MA on the construction of gender in the Saharawi refugee camps, where I知 going this Tuesday!
The Saharawi camps are in Tindouf, Southwest Algeria, formed in 1975 when the Saharawis were forced to leave their country, the Western Sahara (previously a Spanish colony), due to the invasion of Moroccan and Mauritanian forces, which bombed the refugees with napalm and phosphorus in an attempted genocide.
Today, around 160,000 Saharawis live in the camps, whereas the other half of the population live under violent Moroccan rule in the occupied Western Sahara. Despite the 1969 UN call for self-determination of the Saharawi people, which it has restated in every resolution since, the international community continues to ignore the Saharawi people痴 plight and is reluctant to force Morocco to end its unlawful and brutal occupation.
I値l be staying in the camps for 5 weeks, in what is better described as a state in exile than a refugee camp. I知 hoping to interview artists, poets, students, members of the women痴 union, the imam, army generals, teachers and MPs to get as wide an insight as possible into the situation in the camps. I値l also be volunteering at the Union of Saharawi Journalists and Writers (UPES), a primary school, and an English Language centre.
I hope you値l be able to follow me on what should be a really eye-opening experience, getting to know the real meaning of patience and hope from the Saharawi people, who are still waiting for an end to their 33-year exile in the driest, most barren area of the Sahara desert, the Algerian
Hamada.
 |  | Western Sahara: 30 Years is Enough:
For 30 years the Saharawi people of Western Sahara have lived in refugee camps in some of the harshest conditions on earth, while their country remains under occupation by Morocco. |
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