Having not been well since I arrived in the camps, I found myself getting worse last night and so this morning I became acquainted with Smara camp’s hospital. The pole to which my drip was attached seemed to be taped together in various places, and as it was missing a wheel, it had to be balanced upon a pile of old CD cases. “Remember us when we go back to the UK” the Cuban-trained doctor told me, “we’ve got nowhere near the resources we need here, this is the only pole we’ve got.”
Sidahmed, one of the brothers of the family, was keeping me company in the hospital. He’s on one month’s leave from the army at the moment. I asked him why he had chosen this career path. “I decided to become a soldier because my country is still occupied by Morocco. Whilst I’m still young and strong I want to defend my homeland from the Moroccan enemies. Many young men have made the same decision as I have. Everyone who goes to war does it voluntarily. They go to war to defend their homeland, their families.” Since there’s been a ceasefire since 1991, I ask him about what work the soldiers do when they are away; “normally we patrol the wall, to make sure no soldiers pass through. We also look after the arms, cleaning them, and things like that. When we’re on leave in the camps, we build houses or help our families around the home.”
The wall which Sidahmed mentioned is the so-called “Wall of Shame” built by the Moroccans to separate the territories they occupy from those liberated by the Polisario. It is the longest active military wall in the world at 2700km. It is 3-4 meters high, is constantly patrolled by more than 130 000 Moroccan soldiers and has minefields positioned along its entire length. Indeed, millions of landmines and cluster bombs are still scattered over 40% of the liberated territories, hence why every so often a Saharawi nomad grazing cattle there is killed or maimed.
Apparently the army is ready to go back to war at the end of 2008, should there be no further diplomatic developments, which is unlikely following the failure of the latest peace talks between the two sides in March in Manhasset, New York. It is 17 years since the UN brokered a ceasefire, but there is still no sign of the promised self-determination referendum for the Saharawis or any other pushes for justice from the international community. In this context the mounting pressure in the army for a return to conflict is understandable. I wonder if this time next year Sidahmed will have to use the old kalashnikov which he is so accustomed to cleaning.
 |  | 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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