The LIS in the Saharawi camps of Tinduf
Of the 20 al 22 of May, was donethe 10th Congress of the UJSARIO. He carried out his activity in the wilaya Bojador, located in the Sahrawi camps of Tindouf, Algeria. Three days of intense activity allowed us to experience the harsh reality in which the Sahrawi people live.. SpaghettiWe were able to perceive the will to fight for freedom and the recovery of the usurped territories. The delegation of the International Socialist League that participated as guests reaffirmed its commitment to support the struggle for self-determination.
By Florencia Salgueiro and Ruben Tzanoff
A complicated political framework with a people standing
The Congress was held within the framework of the resumption of war actions between the Polisario Front and Morocco. The breaking of diplomatic relations between Algeria and Morocco. Hehistoric turn of the Spanish government towards support for the autonomy plan of Mohamed VI and the worsening of the African economic-social situation as a consequence of the war in Ukraine. Morocco made progress in its diplomatic offensive: the recognition of North American imperialism, the growing complicity of the imperialist bloc of the European Union and the economic-military involvement of the genocidal State of Israel. It is a complex situation that the Saharawi people face by mobilizing and fighting..
The location of Western Sahara and the camps we visited
On the map you can see the limits of theSahara Occidental with Morocco, Mauritania and Algeria. Within that territory, Sahrawis live in two areas.: the one with the largest surface area, controlled by Morocco and the smallest, controlled by the Polisario Front. You can also see a line that divides both areas., is the “Wall of Shame”. It is a military construction of a length greater than the 2.720 km, defended by Moroccan troops and the increasing use of drones, around which millions of antipersonnel mines have been planted. This military monstrosity constitutes a trueIn South Africa there are many struggles for the expropriation of land without compensation to the Sahrawi population, whose objective is to prevent the return to their land of refugees living in the camps ofTinduf, located in Algeria, which we visited and also appear on the map.
The organization in the camps
In the Tindouf camps there are officially counted 173.600 people, although the actual amount may reach 200.000. There is a huge female presence, as, although it is not mandatory, the men are at the front or emigrated looking for work. The camps are made up of fivewilayas named after cities in Western Sahara: barker, Tigris, Laayoune, Auserd and Smara. Of them, We got to know Boujdour and visited Smara. Each province, what is an administrative unit, is made up of somedairas which are small population groups. The central administration of the Polisario Front is located in Rabuni.
Living conditions are extreme
Families forced to abandon their land for more than four decades live in conditions of extreme poverty. They survive through humanitarian aid, which is not enough to stop child malnutrition and food deficiencies. The camps were built in the middle of an arid desert, whose climate hits with temperatures that range between 40 y 50º C. The weak electricity supply is interrupted several times a day. There are no sewage networks, gas, nor transportation. There are very few schools, health services and shops. Only the 1% of refugees manage to access university studies, that are taken in Algeria or another country. The water that reaches families is stored in closed canvas tanks. The houses are made of brick or adobe, They are next to the tents, which are traditional tents. Sometimes the winds or rains destroy the camps, as happened with the floods of 2015.
We carry out an intense activity strengthened by human warmth
Thursday 19 We take off from Madrid together with other international delegations. At night we arrived at Tindouf Airport and from there a convoy with an escort accompanied us to the wilaya of Bojador., where we were housed. From the moment of arrival until the farewell on the night of the 22 of June, we feel a human warmth without limits. We were welcomed by a family made up of women who shared the roof with us., Water, tea and food with total naturalness and simplicity. This gave us more strength to carry out intense activity.
Invaders violate human rights
We visited an organization that defends Human Rights, the Museum of the Resistance and other social institutions. Everywhere we come into closer contact with the little-known situation of repression that the Sahrawis suffer in the occupied territories.. Self-determination activists are persecuted, imprisoned and tried. The best known example internationally is that of the activist Sultana Khaya and her family, detained in her house without a court order, victim of raids, torture and sexual assault. The invasion has caused hundreds of people to disappear in what constitutes a true genocide.
Inaugural ceremony and first words of the LIS
The Inaugural Ceremony was held at the Bojador Center, more than 500 delegates and around 150 guests. The CongressAzman Ali Brahim” met under the motto«The Sahrawi youth, “a mobilized and conscious force to win the battle of the future.”It began with a traditional music show followed by welcome speeches from the governor of Bojador., Alaaza Babih; of the general secretary of the UJSARIO, Mohamed Said Dadi and the secretary general of the Polisario Front and president of Western Sahara, Brahim Galli.
Among the words of the delegations was that of our colleague Alejandro Bodart, leader of the International Socialist League, who expressed:
“…we are an organization of revolutionaries that brings together revolutionaries on practically all continents. We salute this act, We are convinced that the Congress that the youth companions are going to hold will be very successful.. Our unconditional commitment is to the cause of the Sahrawi people. No people can be free as long as there is a people that does not have the possibility of enjoying its freedom., of their autonomy and to decide their own future. Because, We are at the disposal of all resolutions that are resolved so that the Sahrawi cause reaches the last place on the planet. We know that we are in a very complex moment, that the Sahrawi people are in a very complex moment, but the only fight that is lost is the one that is abandoned. Because, to the extent that they do not abandon the fight, We are convinced that at the end of the road there will be the freedom of the Sahrawi people, there will be the possibility of autonomy, There will be the possibility of recovering the territories and the possibility of doing justice to all the criminals who during all these years have oppressed the Sahrawi people.. As there is little time and to finish, I believe that all of us who are aware of the suffering of the Sahrawi people, along with promoting the defense of this very just cause everywhere, spaghettiWe have to work so that in our own countries progress is made in a liberation process. Argentina, the country where I come from, has not yet recognized the RepublicSahrawi blica ÁArab Democratic, It is a shame that our country has not joined the more than forty countries that already recognize this Republicblica. Companions, companions, yes we are in this situation, yes you are in this situation, If our people in Argentina are a semi-colony of the United States, yes we are still all over the world subjected to the designs of imperialism, of the different imperialisms, of the new imperialisms that are emerging, The task that all revolutionaries have is to work in all our countries to get rid of the yoke that subjects us., for promoting the socialist revolution in our countries, to advance until there is a free world, a Latinamunited and socialist erica, a united and socialist Africa, a world without exploitation and oppression. Because, Our commitment to your cause is to promote the causes of the workers and the oppressed in each of the countries where we are, because if we get together and unite, There is no one who can stop us from winning companions. Let's not let ourselves be won by skepticism, capitalism is getting worse, is going through a terminal crisis. If all the people of the world unite and fight, We can win and have a decent future for all of us and for all humanity before barbarism definitively takes over our future.. Gracias.”https://www.youtube.com/embed/pMZ7TFacm-A?feature=oembed
He settledthe committeeé Director of Solidarity with Western Sahara
Saturday 20 A plenary session was held coordinated by Chaiaa Ahmed Baba and Hamdi Toubali, those who work in the foreign representation of the Sahrawi Youth. At the event, political and social formations expressed a strong common point: vindication of the cause for the self-determination of Western Sahara. Between them, It is worth highlighting the combative and joyful Palestinian presence that claimed the common struggle for the freedom of its people and the Saharawi.. The delegations presented their proposals for action, among which was the one formulated by our colleague Flor Salgueiro, representing Socialism and Freedom (SOL) – Spanish state found in the following video. https://www.youtube.com/embed/iCSgzqo50Os?feature=oembed
Subsequently, the Steering Committee of Solidarity with Western Sahara was formed, to which our colleague joined.
Farewell in the tent
On the last day in the camps we moved to a tent set up to say goodbye to the delegations.. President Brahim Galli was present there. Among the farewell speeches was the one given by our colleague Alejandro Bodart.
More spokespersons than ever for the Sahrawi cause
At night, with the house in darkness due to a power outage, We shared dinner and the last glasses of tea with the family that welcomed us. Then we left with Chaiaa, in an escorted convoy to Tindouf airport to begin the return. We left tired from the intense activity in the middle of oppressive heat, but optimistic for the continuity of the fight. Proud of the international campaigns we have been carrying out. And happy to have strengthened ties with the just Sahrawi cause for freedom, of which we will continue to be spokespersons in each country of the five continents where the LIS is located.
