Smara- As a proud Saharawi, I would like the world to understand that the Polisario does not represent all the people of the Sahara. They are a group of people who represent themselves and who are using the refugees inside the camps of Tindouf to further their own interests with the help of the Algerian regime.
The people in the Sahara know that the best place and condition for them to achieve their dreams and live their life is in the Sahara, as an autonomous region under Moroccan sovereignty.
The Sahara has never been an empty space that no country had claims to, as the Spanish colonizer and some colonial historians pretend. Everything in the Sahara says that the relations between the Sahara, as a geography and as a people, and the kingdom are deeply rooted in history.
There have always been historical ties between the south and the north of the Sahara. This means that links were established long ago between the Saharawi tribes, the monarchy in Fes and Marrakesh, and the tribes of the Sahara. A plethora of historical documents provide testimony to the strong ties between the Sahraouian tribes and the Alaouite monarchy.
Today, the Polisario and those countries that still believe in the possibility of dividing Morocco and Moroccans must understand that the Sahara will never be cut from the national map of the Kingdom of Morocco. The Saharawi themselves will never accept being governed by a non-Moroccan system because this will lead to civil wars and tribunal confrontations.
Yes, the government has made a lot of errors and mistakes in managing the conflict over the Sahara, and these mistakes are particular to certain people and governors. Those errors have been made all over the country in the form of human rights violations and affronts on citizenship and dignity. Unfortunately, this is a black page in the book of our history.
Today Morocco benefits from the leadership of a new king whose objective is to address, forgive, and move past the mistakes of the past so as to build a new Morocco, where the nation-state is the tribe of those who have none.
We should all take part in spreading a new culture of citizenship where all people are treated as equal citizens who deserve the right to a good education, good health, and better life conditions. We, as Saharouians and Moroccans, have the right to live in a country that respect our rights and at the same time acknowledges our cultural, linguistic, religious and personal freedoms under the umbrella of unity in diversity. Living in a country where diverse layers of identity are prized rather than smothered is what we desire, as a proud people.
This is what the people of the Sahara want and this is what the whole nation wants: a country that guarantees their rights as citizens with no marginalization, racisms, discrimination, corruption and injustice. All Moroccans deserve a life of rights, justice, equality and freedom and this must be our dream as children of today and as citizens of tomorrow.
The world should help us to create this greater Morocco where all the citizens are valued and assessed based on by their contribution to society and national unity, while all the while demonstrating how the hybridity of identity cultivates, rather than disintegrates, the objective of a greater and more inclusive national identity.
The people of the Sahara must be given the rights they deserve as equal citizens with their brothers and sisters in the other regions of the kingdom, and we must stop that old song of separatism and hatred.
Our brothers who are imprisoned in the camps of Tindouf must be allowed to move freely, as they choose. They must be allowed the option of coming back to Morocco, socially and economically reintegrating, and moving past the injuries they have suffered at the hands of the many actors involved in the conflict. They must be able to start a new life and participate in the development of the region and of the entire country.
The Algerians must help us too to achieve this goal of unity, forget our differences and join hands to build the dream of greater Maghreb unity so that our children can live in a region of peace and cooperation.
The Algeria tax money that is spent on supporting the Polisario Front should be going to investment in social and educational fields forthe Algerian people. They should not waste any more funds on a conflict that has soured the Morocco-Algeria relationship and nearly destroyed the potential for the Arab Maghreb Union.
Sometimes, we waste our time, energy and life looking for dreams where they are none. We waste years abroad looking for life opportunities or lost gold while the gold we look for and the treasure we search for is at home.
As a Saharawi, I believe that the freedom and rights we want will not be found in Tindouf or in Algeria. We have a greater chance of achieving the life we week in the Sahara, as an autonomous region of the Kingdom of Morocco. Let us put an end to this conflict that has cast a shadow over the lives of so many.
Edited by Anna Jacobs
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