Published 03/13/05
Where there is no photographer.
Refugee. An important story is told in Norwegian cinemas these days. The Moroccan-Norwegian movie"The Glance" describes the French invasion at the time when Morocco was a French colony. In an interview in Aftenposten in December last year the film director Nour-Eddine Lakhmari calls the following into question: What happens in all those cases where there is no photographer? Many refugees are safe like me; they wish to tell their stories. My story starts long before I was born in a refugee camp in Algeria in 1987. In 1975 the colonial power Spain withdrew from my home country Western-Sahara. At the same time Morocco invaded the country. The year after my grandmother escaped with her six children into the desert toward refugee camps in the neighboring country Algeria. Morocco dropped bombs over the stream of refugees. My mother's three youngest siblings did not survive the journey, while my grandmother became blind. My grandfather remained in Western Sahara to fight for independence, and we haven't heard from him since 1984. We still hope that he is among the war prisoners that sit in Moroccan prisons without contact with the surrounding world. Now we wait for the day when Morocco puts into effect the referendum made about Western Sahara's future, as they promised when they signed the UN peace plan in 1991. No journalist or photographer was there or could document the sufferings my own and thousands of other families were subjected to during the flight from the Moroccan army. As Amnesty writes in their annual report, there is not even free press in Morocco that can forward this information and create a debate about the Western Saharan question today. Only last year, three Norwegian journalists were thrown out of Morocco when they were supposed to interview people from Western Sahara. It is important that Norwegian journalists continue to try and document violence and killings, even if they, in Morocco, work under extreme conditions. Also the work ideal organizations do is invaluable. When Sidi Mohamed Daddach, who sat for 24 years as a political prisoner in Moroccan prisons, received the Rafto-award in Bergen in 2002, this was enormous hope for the whole population of Western Sahara. In addition it is extremely useful that tourists and Norwegians with Moroccan background on vacation in Morocco bring information to Moroccans, as they do not enjoy a free press. I will myself take advantage of the opportunity I have received, being able to study at the Red Cross Nordic United World College, to share my experiences with others.
Written by Senia Abderahman
Article # 2
Published 05/08/05
Western Sahara is its own country.
On the 10 April in Aftenposten, the Moroccan ambassador, Abdelhakim El Amrani, presents a series of untruths as he makes his assertion that Western Sahara is a part of Morocco. I will not use the space here to confute every single of Amrani's [the Moroccan ambassador] assertions, but urge those who are interested to seek independent information on the net pages to the UN?s mission MINURSO (the UN-office in connection with the postponement of the referendum for Western Saharan), that works for the people of Western Sahara so Western Saharawis can be able to decide for themselves the future status of the area.
No state or international organization recognizes Morocco's occupation of Western Sahara, while more than 70 countries have recognized Western-Sahara as its own country. When I am finished with my studies, I hope to return back to the Western Saharan flowers and beaches rather than the sand and stone of the refugee camp I have grown up in.
Written by Senia Bachir Abderahman, student from Western Sahara at the Red Cross Nordic United World College.