Sahara refugees form a progressive society
Aozotorp
from the March 26, 2004 edition
Sahara refugees form a progressive society
Literacy and democracy are thriving in an unlikely place.
By John Thorne | Contributor to The Christian Science Monitor
TINDOUF, ALGERIA – A dozen women recline on the steps of the main girls'
school in the Saharawi refugee camps, their pastel robes like blots of
water-color on the whitewashed cement. When the door opens and the
headmistress emerges, the women suddenly leap up and crowd around her,
clamoring. They are mothers seeking places for their daughters in the
already-crowded school.
The Saharawi women are among the most liberated of the Muslim world, and their
status is characteristic of the well- organized, egalitarian society that has
developed in the refugee camps over the past three decades. For all their
bleakness, the Saharawi camps boast a representative government, a 95 percent
literacy rate, and a constitution that enshrines religious tolerance and
gender equality.
The Saharawis are the Arab nomads of Western Sahara, bound together by their
Yemeni ancestry and their dialect, Hassaniya, which remains close to classical
Arabic. For centuries, they roamed the territory with their camels and goats,
sometimes trading with Spanish colonizers, and became known as "blue men" for
the indigo robes they wear.
When Spain abandoned Western Sahara in 1975, Morocco invaded and drove the
Saharawis into neighboring Algeria. Trading their camels for Land Rovers, they
fought a guerrilla war under the leadership of the Polisario Front, an
independence movement, until the UN brokered a cease-fire in 1991. Since then,
the promised vote on independence has been stalled by disagreement over who
should be allowed to participate.
Equality
Meanwhile the Saharawi refugees, numbering some 160,000, have clung on in
camps amid the flat, stony wastes near the town of Tindouf, in southwest
Algeria. Subsisting on foreign aid - chiefly rice, bread, and a few root
vegetables - most suffer from chronic malnutrition. Their settlements consist
almost wholly of adobe huts and dusty canvas tents, appearing from afar as
brown smudges on the slightly lighter brown desert.
"Women built these camps," says Menana Mohammed, deputy secretary-general of
the Union of Saharawi Women. When the Saharawis arrived at Tindouf, most of
the men had stayed behind as soldiers. "You'll still find women doing all
kinds of work, including leading," Ms. Mohammed adds.
While most of the top brass are men, the minister of culture is a woman. Women
hold one fourth of the seats in the Saharawi parliament, and they make up most
of the civil service, including teachers, nurses, and doctors.
"These days our chief concern is education," says Mohammed. All young
Saharawis learn Spanish as well as Arabic, and some attend universities in
Spain, Cuba, and Algeria through the sponsorship of those countries'
governments.
"In the camps, we had to be both sexes, because the men were all away
fighting," says Mohammed. There is an old Saharawi saying, she says, that
rings especially true today: "A tent is raised on two poles: a man and a
woman." The Saharawis' traditionally tough, wandering lifestyle has always
made them regard husband and wife as equal leaders of the household.
Individualism
It has also begotten an individualistic approach to Islam. While most Muslims
tend to stress the importance of the Islamic community, "the Saharawis believe
that religion is a very personal issue," says Mouloud Said, the Polisario's
representative in the United States. "It's a personal relationship between the
human being and his Creator. This is the mentality of the nomadic society."
Mosques are conspicuously absent from the camps, in large part because the
Saharawis "don't believe that to speak to God, you need a fancy place,"
explains Mr. Said.
Saharawis seldom pray in groups save on important Muslim holidays, and view
even these ceremonies as purely optional. For some, this is a welcome
escape-hatch from the religion's bloodier rituals.
"Each person has his own Islam," says Zorgan Laroussi, a translator in the
camps who chose not to attend the mass slaughter of camels for the feast of
al-Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of Ramadan. His brother-in-law Salek did
go, and relishes explaining the ritual's finer points while the two men and
their families share a dish of grilled hindquarters.
Saharawis are equally welcoming of other religions. "There is an almost
continuous presence of church groups from all over the world - in particular
the US - in the camps," says Said. "Every year for the last four years, there
has been a joint prayer at Easter."
"Tolerance is not something new, but it's something [Saharawi leaders]
encourage," he says. "In a tolerant society, the center prevails, not the
extremes. That means respect for others, whether for the faith or their
ideas."
This credo finds ample use in the Saharawis' recent conversion to a united
democratic government. Following their flight from Western Sahara, they
quickly saw that overcoming the desert and the Moroccan Army meant forsaking
old tribal loyalties. "What's most important is that we Saharawis hang
together, so we highlight stories that promote unity among us," says Minister
of Culture Miriam Salek, who works with the Ministry of Education and the
Saharawi Youth Organization to keep alive Saharawi folklore and history.
Democracy
In 1976, the Polisario proclaimed, and more or less became, the Saharawi Arab
Democratic Republic. Although a government-in-exile, it is recognized by 75
countries, and the UN formally considers Western Sahara an occupied territory.
Tier upon tier of elected officials make up the camp government, from the
national parliament down to neighborhood councils. Saharawis are avid voters,
and many participate in local civil service - even if it's merely taking a
twice-weekly shift on the trash detail, or helping dole out rations.
This could be the blueprint for an independent Western Sahara, and there is a
general sense of pride and excitement among the Saharawis for their new
society. "This has worked so far, what we have here," says one young daira
(district) councilman, "and it should still work in Western Sahara. We built
this on the hope of the people, and I don't think they'll want to change."
But as the years drag on, many fear they will never have the chance to find
out. Their smoothly running camps and refusal to resort to terrorism keep them
out of the public consciousness, relieving pressure on the UN to push for a
quick settlement to the 29-year-old conflict. "We have been landless for so
long," laments Tellib Helli Embarik, an old tribal leader. "I don't know if
the UN is just waiting for us to disappear or what!"
[Photo: REUNITED: A man separated for decades from his family by conflict in
Western Sahara rejoined them this month.
ABDELHAK SENNA/ AFP]
________________________________________________________
URL: http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0326/p04s01-wome.html
________________________________________________________
Forwarded by:
________________________________________________________
Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara
wsa...@online.no
*** Referendum now! ***