Portraying the Saharawis â âThe last thing you lose is hopeâ
The homeland of the Saharawi people is the Western Sahara, the north-western region of Africa on Moroccoâs northern borders. Yet for more than 35 years the Saharawis have been living on Algerian land.
The Western Sahara was a Spanish colony. In 1973 some Sahwarawi formed the Polisario Front to oust the Spanish. The Saharawis gained political strength and a UN mission showed support for their independence. However, the withdrawal of Spain led to an invasion by neighbouring countries Morocco and Mauritania, and Saharawis began to emigrate from their own land to Algeria.
In 1976 the Polisario Front declared a Republic and started a guerrilla war between Mauritania and Morocco. Having won the war against Mauritania, the Moroccan forces still kept control of the major cities, and by the mid-1980s, a sand wall had been built dividing up the land.
The existence of a peace process has led to a cease-fire between the Polisario Front and Morocco but the country remains divided. Morocco controls the coastal west side, an area rich in resources. The liberated portion of the country is inland, economically useless and heavily land-mined.
This body of work portrays a people who have not given up hope. Their aim is to get back to their land. Their perpetual refugee status denies them the land, freedom or society to continue developing their culture, even to feed themselves properly. The effects landmines can have on human beings is just one of the more visible devastations resulting from this conflict. Yet in the face of such mutilation and with everyday hardship a fact of life they remain committed. But where does this situation lead? And what does it mean for future generations of Saharawis?
Bernat Millet
