The Sahrawi (sometimes spelled Saharawi) people are a fusion of Berber, African and Arabian. Sahrawi literally means inhabitant of the desert. They are traditionally a nomadic people who began to settle in towns in Spanish Sahara as Western Sahara was previously called.
Where are the Sahrawi Refugees?
The Sahrawi have been living in a small corner of the Sahara Desert since 1976. They fled to the Sahrawi refugee camps in 1976 during the war between Morocco and the Polisario when Western Sahara stopped being a Spanish colony.
How did they come to be here?
From around 1870 Western Sahara was a Spanish colony known as Spanish Sahara In 1973 the Sahrawi people who lived there began fighting for independence from Spain and The Polisario Front was founded. Spain withdrew but the Moroccan kingdom invaded and claimed the territory as its own. In 1975 Morocco’s claim to sovereignty of Western Sahara was rejected by the International Court of Justice and war broke out between Morocco and The Polisario Front.
In 1976 to escape the war Sahrawi women and children fled to Algeria and five camps were set up outside the Algerian town of Tindouf. From pre Islamic times they have retained a matriarchal society and women play a key role in the camps.
In 1980 Morocco began building the berm (or sand-wall) now 2,700km long. It is thought to be the longest continuous minefield in the world. It has separated families to this day with some in the occupied Western Sahara and some in the camps near Tindouf.
The war continued until 1991 when the United Nations brokered a ceasefire pending a referendum on self-determination for the Sahrawi people.
They are still waiting for the referendum.
These are not refugees trying to reach Europe – they are well educated, resourceful people who are ready and waiting to run their homeland.
In late 2020, the Polisario took up arms once again in response to repeated Moroccan violations of the ceasefire agreement and mounting frustrations over the lack of progress made to organise the referendum. The war is ongoing.
In 2017 the United Nations counted 173,600 Sahrawi refugees living in camps in the desert.
Michael Palin’s Visit
In the early 2000s Michael Palin visited the Smara camp, while travelling across the Sahara for his BBC documentary. He experienced the generous hospitality of the Sahrawi people and shone a spotlight onto the situation in the camps. Sadly things have not changed very much since then.