MOROCCO
Minatu Lanabas Suidat, 25 year old Saharawi...
© Andrew McConnell
00116911
Tifariti
Minatu Lanabas Suidat, 25 year old Saharawi journalist. Pictured in Tifariti, in Polisario controlled Western Sahara (Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic): 'I was born in El Aaiun refugee camp in 1984. I thought when I was a little girl that it was the nicest place in the world because I didn't know anything other than the camps. My childhood was very nice. We played all night, we never had anything to fear, even the darkness. I have worked as a journalist since December 2008 and I have learned a lot of things about my issue. Now I have a lot of chances to fight for my issue through writing and talking about the situation. I think the world has betrayed the Polisario. The Polisario wanted peace and had faith in the process and they gave a lot for the chance to create peace but I think the world didn't appreciate that, especially the UN and Morocco. The people are ready to sacrifice...
MOROCCO
Mohamed Didi, 42 year old Saharawi Polisario Solider....
© Andrew McConnell
00116913
Dougaj
Mohamed Didi, 42 year old Saharawi Polisario Solider. Pictured at Dougaj military base, in Polisario controlled Western Sahara (Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic): 'I was born in Bir Lahlou in 1966. My family were nomads and we lived taking care of animals. When the war began I was with my family in Oum Dreyga, we took the animals there because there was a lot of grass, then the bombardment began. They used napalm and phosphorus. After that we went to Algeria and started to build the camps, we put up jaimas (tents) and the Polisrio said we would be safe there. In 1987 we caught Abu Di Abdelslam, who was the right hand man of King Hassan II. He was badly injured and refused to talk to anyone who was not the same rank. While we were waiting for a general to arrive he died. The ceasefire has not brought any solution, it was a trick. We have waited for so many years that we can wait for...
MOROCCO
Salek Labieb Basher, 23 year old Saharawi camel...
© Andrew McConnell
00117284
Salek Labieb Basher, 23 year old Saharawi camel herder. Pictured in the desert near Tifariti, in Polisario controlled Western Sahara: 'I was born in Smara in the occupied territory. In school we would fight with the Moroccan boys all the time. I had some Moroccan friends but they were boys who believed in a free Sahara. I heard on the radio one day that Moroccan soldiers had caught a lot of camels from across the wall and had taken them to Smara. Many of us went to see them and I felt bad when I saw women crying because the Moroccans were not giving them water or food and everyday one was dying. The camel is very important in our culture and is a friend of the Saharawi since long ago. The Moroccans did this to hurt the Saharawi people. After three months the camels were like skeletons so me and three friends decided to liberate them to stop this tragedy. We watched the routine of the...
MOROCCO
Ralia Marof Labaihi, 7 year old Saharawi Bedouin...
© Andrew McConnell
00116920
Mehaires
Ralia Marof Labaihi, 7 year old Saharawi Bedouin girl. Pictured in Mehaires, in Polisario controlled Western Sahara: 'I am seven. I live here with my family. During the day I study with my grandfather. This year the school is not open. I like it here because we have small goats, in the camps we have none and here I get up early but not there. I want to be a teacher when I grow up. I saw a snake and ran away. I want to see the sea, I saw a picture, I want to swim in it. It's good when it rains, my Grandfather has tomatoes.'
MOROCCO
Hamdi Jaafar Mohammed, 46, Soldier of the Polisario...
© Andrew McConnell
00116915
Tifariti
Hamdi Jaafar Mohammed, 46, Soldier of the Polisario Front. Pictured atop a tank in Tifariti, in Polisario controlled Western Sahara (Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic): 'I was born in 1963 in Wagcedhi. During the invasion I was a young boy but I remember what happened. I saw my neighbours being forced to leave, women and children walking and travelling in trucks. The Moroccans intervened in a barbaric way in occupying our cities. I fled with my brothers. My father was fighting to protect people as they were leaving the territory. It took more than one month of walking before we reached the camps. I joined the Polisario and became a fighter at the end of 1981. On my first day as a soldier in the war we came under attack from a Moroccan plane and we were all dispersed. Someone shot at the plane with a normal gun and it came down! The pilot came down in the parachute and we captured him....
MOROCCO
Djimi Elghalia, 48, vice president of the Saharawi...
© Andrew McConnell
00116914
El Aaiun
Djimi Elghalia, 48, vice president of the Saharawi Association of Victims of Grave Human Rights Violations Committed by the Moroccan State (ASVDH). Pictured near El Aaiun city, in Moroccan controlled Western Sahara (Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic): 'I was born in Agadir, Morocco, in 1961. A lot of Saharawis used to stay at our home and because of this my grandmother was arrested in 1984. She was sixty; we never saw her again. In 1986 I moved to El Aaiun for work after I graduated in agriculture. The next year I was arrested along with five hundred others for trying to organise a demonstration on independence before a big United Nations visit. They held eighty including nineteen women. They interrogated me and used physical and psychological torture. They would put chemicals in my hair which made me faint. I was electrocuted on the arms and back and was bitten by dogs. Later they...
MOROCCO
Ahmed Sbaai, 31, secretary-general of the Saharawi...
© Andrew McConnell
00116916
El Aaiun
Ahmed Sbaai, 31, secretary-general of the Saharawi League for the Protection of Political Prisoners inside Moroccan Jails, human rights defender, and leader of the intifada. Pictured on the streets of El Aaiun city, in Moroccan controlled Western Sahara (Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic): 'I was born in 1978 in occupied El Aaiun. When we were kids we first felt the discrimination of Morocco against the Saharawi in school where teachers would give more attention to Moroccan kids so that we felt different and knew they were not like us and had a strange culture. They would deal with the settlers better. I became involved in the intifada in 1999. Our principals were that the intifada would be peaceful, we made national flags and hung them in Moroccan institutions, we also held two minute demonstrations with flags and shouting slogans before dispersing before the police could take us. It...
ALGERIA
Lahbieb Embarek Ahmed, 47 year old Saharawi camel...
© Andrew McConnell
00116928
Lahbieb Embarek Ahmed, 47 year old Saharawi camel herder. Pictured in the desert near the Saharawi refugee camps, Algeria: 'I was born in Farsia in 1962. The only thing I know is camels. I have lived with camels and they have lived with me and that's all I know. There are a lot of uses for the camels, we don't only drink their milk or eat the meat but we use it as a cure.We add oils from the camel to the milk and drink it for some diseases. If they are sick I know how to treat them. If the camel doesn't want to eat I take a lizard and mix it with some plants and feed them it. The camel is a good friend to the human, when you are alone in the desert you have no friends but there you learn how to be friends with him. They can smell their owners and know their smells, when there is something between you and the camel he will come to you and you can touch him easily and he will sit down...
MOROCCO
Malainin Aomar, 66 year old Saharawi soldier of the...
© Andrew McConnell
00116912
Malainin Aomar, 66 year old Saharawi soldier of the Polisario Front. Pictured watching the Moroccan wall near Auserd, in Polisario controlled Western Sahara (Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic): 'I was born in Auserd in 1953. Since I was a little boy I studied the Koran and I learnt the difference between good and bad. In August 1974 I joined the Polisario Front. I joined because they were an organisation fighting for the liberation of Western Sahara which had been occupied by the Spanish for almost 100 years. I believed in the Polisario's ideals. In September 1975 Spain began to leave all their bases and release the Saharawi soldiers. Polisario knew something was happening and began to prepare for a new kind of conflict. We never trusted Spain. There was a big meeting between all the countries and Algeria and Libya supported independence for Western Sahara, but something went wrong....
MOROCCO
Atiko Barrax, 36 year old Saharawi human rights...
© Andrew McConnell
00116917
Dakhla
Atiko Barrax, 36 year old Saharawi human rights activist. Pictured in Dakhla, Moroccan controlled Western Sahara (Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic): 'I was born in Dakhla in 1973. My first memories are of the military and there being no light in the streets. I remember seeing injured Moroccan soldiers coming to the hospital during the war. Everyone here who believes in independence cannot get work, all the Saharawi work in human rights, there is no other work. We cannot fish. We cannot do anything.'
MOROCCO
Mariam Zaide Amar, 24 year old Saharawi de-miner....
© Andrew McConnell
00116918
Mehaires
Mariam Zaide Amar, 24 year old Saharawi de-miner. Pictured in Mehaires, in Polisario controlled Western Sahara (Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic): 'I was born in the refugee camps in 1985. I heard an advertisement on Saharawi National Radio that Landmine Action needed women for de-mining. After hearing it a lot of times I asked my family could I do it, they said I could. I thought it would be a great way to help my people and to clean the land of all the bombs. I went for the interview and there were a lot of girls. When they told me I had got the job I felt very lucky. We wear special clothes and use metal detectors. When I find a mine I mark it and then put TNT around it and attach the detonator, then move back 300m with a cable and blow it up. When I hear of people getting killed by mines I feel sick. We are working in Mehaires now, in the liberated territory, there is a lot of...
MOROCCO
Balal Mohammed Lamin, 51 year old Saharawi Polisario...
© Andrew McConnell
00116919
Mehaires
Balal Mohammed Lamin, 51 year old Saharawi Polisario soldier. Pictured at Mehaires Military Base, in Polisario controlled Western Sahara (Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic): 'I was born in Smara in 1958. I joined the Polisario in 1975. When the war started I believed in only one thing; to liberate the whole of Western Sahara. After the ceasefire I spent all my time waiting for the war to start again. Once during the war four friends were travelling in the jeep in front of me when a mine exploded, all four were killed. I saw them all die and I couldn't do anything. Once during a firefight with Moroccans my gun was shot out of my hands. That is twice I felt very lucky to be alive. I was a mine expert in the war and we used to always blow up the wall. We would go in the dark and lift the mines and clear the area up to the wall. Then we would put explosives in the wall and blow it up then...
MOROCCO
Sidi Mohamed Dadach, 52 year old Saharawi, known as...
© Andrew McConnell
00116921
El Aaiun
Sidi Mohamed Dadach, 52 year old Saharawi, known as 'The Mandela of Sahara'. Pictured near El Aaiun city, in Moroccan controlled Western Sahara (Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic): 'I was born in Guelta in 1957 I joined the Polisario in 1973 and was arrested in 1976 and spent two years in jail. I was arrested again in 1979 when I tried to rejoin the Polisario. I was caught sixty kilometres south of El Aaiun, there were ten of us and eight made it, one was killed and I was caught. I was sentenced to death in 1980. My cell was two and a half metres by two and a half, No.12 of Kenitra Prison, near Rabat. They would execute men at night so every time I heard a sound at night I would think I was going to die. After fourteen years the death sentenced was lifted and I was given life instead, after that I could finally sleep. In 1997 a delegation from the Red Cross visited me and in 1998 the...
ALGERIA
Mohamed Lamin Slot, 26 year old Saharawi ambulance...
© Andrew McConnell
00117283
Rabouni refugee camp
Mohamed Lamin Slot, 26 year old Saharawi ambulance driver. Pictured in the desert near Rabouni refugee camp: 'I was born in El Aaiun camp in 1983. I grew up here, we got accustomed to it. I studied in Algeria for six years. I started working as an ambulance driver in 2005, it is a great job and I like it. There is a lot of tiredness but I like to help people. It took one year to train in first aid, it was very difficult at first, you remember many bad things like blood and injuries but now it's normal for me. We never rest there are always emergencies, maybe there are eight or nine cases per day. I work from Saturday to Friday and work the whole week even sleeping in the hospital, then I have the following week off. I get almost no sleep during that week. The hardest thing is when people die on the way to the hospital, you wish you could have got them there but you couldn't.'
MOROCCO
Name withheld, 26 year old Saharawi. Pictured at an...
© Andrew McConnell
00116924
Name withheld, 26 year old Saharawi. Pictured at an undisclosed location in Moroccan controlled Western Sahara (Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic). The subject's name and location have been withheld for fear of reprisals by the Moroccan government. Saharawis living under Moroccan control claim to continually suffer oppression and human rights abuses.
MOROCCO
Mohamed Lamin Mohamed Dadaia, 64 year old Saharawi...
© Andrew McConnell
00116922
Tifariti
Mohamed Lamin Mohamed Dadaia, 64 year old Saharawi Polisario Soldier. Pictured in Tifariti, in Polisario controlled Western Sahara: 'I was born in the city of El Aaiun in 1945. I remember much of there, the festivals, the times we went to the sea. I miss it. We were friends with the Spanish, we lived and worked with them and we learned a lot from them, some of us even entered their army. They gave us a modern life. When we heard about the plans to give our land to Morocco and Mauritanian we decided to counter-attack. Spain sold us, I found it very hard to take, after that I lifted the gun.'
MOROCCO
Brahim Mohamed Baih, 62 year old Saharawi Polisario...
© Andrew McConnell
00116923
Brahim Mohamed Baih, 62 year old Saharawi Polisario soldier. Pictured praying in the desert in Polisario controlled Western Sahara near the Algerian border (Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic): 'I was born in Tiris, which in now in the liberated territory of Western Sahara, in 1947. It is desert and a Bedouin area with many camels. We travelled a lot to Zouerate, in Mauritania, when I was young. I was there in 1975 when Mauritania invaded Western Sahara. The Saharawi tried to move to the camps but they blocked the routes. I was arrested, they treated us badly. When Mauritania withdrew in 1979 Saharawis were then able to go to the refugee camps in Algeria. I was released and went also.'
MOROCCO
Omar Tiyanie Mostafa, 36 year old Saharawi...
© Andrew McConnell
00116925
Tifariti
Omar Tiyanie Mostafa, 36 year old Saharawi translator. Pictured in Tifariti, in Polisario controlled Western Sahara (Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic): 'It's tough to be a refugee, you hear about your motherland and you see Morocco selling our fish and our natural resources and we don't have anything here and everyone knows about that but no one tells them they don't have the right to do that! I don't think the peace process will bring anything, Europe is still Europe, America, even with Obama, will still support Morocco, they have a good relationship with them.'
MOROCCO
Mainaha Brahim Bahaha, 64 year old Saharawi Bedouin...
© Andrew McConnell
00116926
Mehaires
Mainaha Brahim Bahaha, 64 year old Saharawi Bedouin woman. Pictured at her home in Mehaires, in Polisario controlled Western Sahara (Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic): 'I was born in Mijek in 1945. I grew up in the desert with the animals and we were all the time moving. If we heard it was raining somewhere we would move. Everything was packed on the camels and we also rode them to the new place. After 1963 we got a car, it was not hard we just sold a few camels and bought it from Trans-Sahara. It changed life for us. Cars were very fast and we could pack a lot of things inside so it was very easy for us to move. But the camel is still the most important thing for the Bedouin. The car allows us to get things from the far away cities, like clothes, oil, flour and sugar but the milk and meat from the camel is how we survive.'
MOROCCO
Name withheld, 26 year old Saharawi. Pictured at an...
© Andrew McConnell
00116927
Name withheld, 26 year old Saharawi. Pictured at an undisclosed location in Moroccan controlled Western Sahara (Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic). The subject's name and location have been withheld for fear of reprisals by the Moroccan government. Saharawis living under Moroccan control claim to continually suffer oppression and human rights abuses.
ALGERIA
Mohammen Sheikh Salek, 30 year old Saharawi petrol...
© Andrew McConnell
00116929
Rabouni refugee camp
Mohammen Sheikh Salek, 30 year old Saharawi petrol station attendant. Pictured in Rabouni refugee camp, Algeria: 'I was born in Auserd (refugee camp) in 1989. It was hard to live there with sandstorms and the sun. Since the ceasefire many people have cars, they go to Spain and other countries and come back with cars. Maybe half the people have cars, the best are the Land Rovers. They are great for the desert and the Saharawi mechanics know them very well. This is only a job to pass the time. I am a soldier waiting for war. I trained with the Polisario for one year and now I am a trainer for young Saharawi in the use of weapons. All young Saharawi know how to use a weapon. I refuse the ceasefire; it is blocking our chance to be free. The Polisario except it but I don't know why. I believe they will find a solution. In the next meetings with Morocco if they do not come back with a...
ALGERIA
Ali Salem Salma, 41, statistician for the Saharawi...
© Andrew McConnell
00116930
Smara refugee camp
Ali Salem Salma, 41, statistician for the Saharawi government. Pictured watching TV at home with his wife, Nabba, and four year old son, Khadda, in Smara refugee camp, Algeria: 'I was born in El Aaiun in October 1968. In 1975 we built a house in Zemla, a neighbourhood of the city. At the end of '75 Morocco invaded our cities during the Green March and the Moroccan soldiers told us to leave our house. Moroccan civilians moved into all the homes. We spent six months travelling to Algeria to the refugee camps and we are still here. We still have a key to our house we even have papers to prove it belongs to us. I went to Libya in 1976. They were good to us and really helped us with food and clothes and educated us very well. I went to university in Algeria and in 1992, graduated with a degree in statistics and returned to the camps to work for the Saharawi government. Our lives here are...
ALGERIA
Salima Kedi Embarec, 20 year old Saharawi refugee....
© Andrew McConnell
00116931
Smara Refugee Camp
Salima Kedi Embarec, 20 year old Saharawi refugee. Pictured in the ruins of an old prison used to hold Moroccan soldiers captured during the war, Smara refugee camp, Algeria: 'I studied in Algeria for three years, I wish I could go to university but my mother is alone so I must be here with her. I lived in Spain for three years from 2000 to 2003; it was good. The best things were crisps, the climate, and the roads. It was very cold in winter; I wore a lot of clothes. I would like to be a film director. I don't know anything about the peace process. My wish is for independence and our people to be united. We will not be in the control of the Moroccan king. War is the best way to get independence. When you lose something by force you can only take it back by force. I would fight to get independence. Moroccans are dogs, they ousted us from our motherland, separated us, killed us, many bad...
ALGERIA
Nagla Mohamed Lamin, 20 year old Saharawi refugee....
© Andrew McConnell
00116932
Smara refugee camp
Nagla Mohamed Lamin, 20 year old Saharawi refugee. Pictured on a bus near Smara refugee camp, Algeria: 'It's difficult because when you start to know that this place doesn't belong to you it is always in your mind. At the same time we will miss this place because we are born here. We used to say when we are in our homeland we will return here to visit and if our house has fallen down we will say: 'I used to live there!' We would say it will be next year and every year after we would say: 'It will happen next year'. When I grew up I started to realise that this issue is very complicated and we don't know when we will go back, but we are sure that we will go one day. I have many dreams, the first to complete my English studies, I want to help my people, even in a small way, but just to do something. I would like to travel to different countries to talk about the Saharawi situation, to...
ALGERIA
Saleh Mohamed Mulud Sidi, 35 year old Saharawi...
© Andrew McConnell
00116933
Saleh Mohamed Mulud Sidi, 35 year old Saharawi Agricultural Engineer. Pictured in Njeila Gardens, near the Saharawi refugee camps, Algeria: 'I was born in Smara in 1974. My family came here in '79, they fled the Moroccans during the battle of Smara. Life for me here is beautiful but it was not our wish to be here. We are building our state here to take it there. Njeila is a natural garden, it was named after the palm trees. I am the agricultural engineer; we grow onions, tomatoes, cucumber, pimiento, dates and melons. We could not recognise the plants when we first came here. We distribute the food to the people in the camps. We do it according to the seasons of the plants, we try to harvest two times a year. We have a well and we have a pump, the water is not very deep and everyday we water the garden. I was sent to study the science of plants in Libya because I had good marks. I was...
ALGERIA
Ihaka Sidahmad Embark, 34 year old Saharawi musician,...
© Andrew McConnell
00116934
27th of February refugee camp
Ihaka Sidahmad Embark, 34 year old Saharawi musician, pictured in 27th of February refugee camp, Algeria: 'I was born in El Aaiun in 1975. I remember when my mother had to find food for us because the Moroccans catch my father. I was just six. We didn't know if he was alive or dead, they held him from 1981 to '91. I remember he went out and said he would be back very soon and I did not see him for ten years. He was arrested because he used to talk about independence and was a Polisario artist. I was in a music group, Stars of the Saguia el Hamra. After a while a lot of Saharawis liked us. We had some songs talking about the Saharawi cause, with messages for the Saharawi people, but in a subtle way. But some Saharawi people working with the Moroccan government told them about the songs and then the group couldn't live there and play anymore, the Moroccans were going to arrest us.'
ALGERIA
Sana Zrog, 19 year old Saharawi student. Pictured...
© Andrew McConnell
00116935
El Aaiun refugee camp
Sana Zrog, 19 year old Saharawi student. Pictured beside water tanks in El Aaiun refugee camp, Algeria: 'When I was seven my parents told me we were living in a refugee camp, I was surprised and sad that I didn't know my homeland. I knew then that I didn't want to spend my life here or have my children here. When I was fifteen I started studying in Libya and now I am in university studying economics I am home now for a holiday but tomorrow I will fly back to Libya. Everything is free; the flight, accommodation, clothes, books, food, even toothbrushes, shampoo and some money every month. I say thank you to Libya for this, they help the Saharawis.'
ALGERIA
Brahim Salama Baaj, 38 year old Saharawi nurse....
© Andrew McConnell
00116936
Auserd refugee camp
Brahim Salama Baaj, 38 year old Saharawi nurse. Pictured at Auserd Hospital, Auserd refugee camp, Algeria: 'When I was in sixth grade someone came to class and selected pupils to go to Cuba. I always had top marks in Spanish so I was selected. It was an opportunity from the sky; I spent eleven years there. The Saharawi in Cuba had different groups for football, running, singing. I loved running in Cuba and there were always competitions. I had a Cuban girlfriend but always explained to her that one day I must return to my country.'
ALGERIA
Mohamed Salem Ali, 18 year old Saharawi refugee and...
© Andrew McConnell
00116937
Dakhla refugee camp
Mohamed Salem Ali, 18 year old Saharawi refugee and water seller. Pictured in Dakhla refugee camp, Algeria: 'I was born in Dakhla. It is beautiful here, I have many friends. Three times a week I prepare the donkey early in the morning at 6am and walk for one hour to the well. I fill ten containers using rope, it's deep and I get tired. It's takes two hours coming back, when I arrive home I feed the donkey and rest. The water from the well is sweet and people like to use it to make tea and to cook grains and sometimes even to drink it when there is no other water.'
ALGERIA
Azmah Laulad, 18 year old Saharawi refugee. Pictured...
© Andrew McConnell
00116938
Auserd refugee camp
Azmah Laulad, 18 year old Saharawi refugee. Pictured in Auserd refugee camp, Algeria, with the lights of Tindouf in the background: 'I've grown up in Auserd but I don't like it. When I was ten we were travelling in the desert and the truck broke down. We were stuck there for six days and had to drink water from the radiator. There was a pregnant woman with us and everyone thought she would lose the baby but it was lucky, a car came along and we fixed the truck. Now I'm making bricks and soon me and my brother will build a shop. We will sell mobile phones because there are not enough phone shops here. It's a tragedy here, people need to go back.'
ALGERIA
Josef Mohamed Galil, 14 year old Saharawi refugee....
© Andrew McConnell
00116939
El Aaiun refugee camp
Josef Mohamed Galil, 14 year old Saharawi refugee. Pictured in an old swimming pool in El Aaiun refugee camp, Algeria: 'I am fourteen. I like it here; I like the weather, even the heat. In this swimming pool they kept water in it for a long time and it damaged it. I never swam here, I prefer the sea. Someone put it here, I like the idea. The last time I was swimming was in Algeria, you can throw yourself from the cliffs and the waves force you around. I learnt to swim in Spain, the sea is better there. I was in the Basque country five times. I went surfing in Bilbao, I can stand up sometimes. I want to be a football player for Real Madrid, I like them from when I was a child, I hate Barcelona. We don't have a national football team because we are not independent so I will support Algeria in the World Cup.'
ALGERIA
Yahdih Yahdih Mohamed, 28 year old Saharawi refugee....
© Andrew McConnell
00116940
Dakhla refugee camp
Yahdih Yahdih Mohamed, 28 year old Saharawi refugee. Pictured in Dakhla refugee camp, Algeria: 'I was born in El Aaiun in the refugee camps in 1981. As a child I could not understand where I lived so I loved it as a child. For any Saharawi with two names the same, like me, it means your father died before you were born. My father was killed five months before I was born in a battle called Lwargziz. My mother says it was a great battle where we captured three hundred Moroccans and brought down two planes. I am very proud that my father died fighting in a great battle defending his family and his land. I am not like anybody whose father just died.'
ALGERIA
Senaha Sidi Omar Baba, 51 year old Saharawi refugee....
© Andrew McConnell
00116941
Auserd refugee camp
Senaha Sidi Omar Baba, 51 year old Saharawi refugee. Pictured in Auserd refugee camp, Algeria: 'I was born in Guelta in 1958. When I was a little child the land was green, my family were Bedouin and we moved from place to place. We moved for the grass to feed our animals and we didn't have to depend on anyone. When the Moroccans came I saw a lot of bad things. We left in a big group some were barefoot, some on camels. The Moroccans were shooting at us and some people were injured and killed. Everyone was very scared. My husband is a soldier. During the war I heard he had stepped on a mine. I didn't see him for five months because he was taken to Algeria. He lost his leg but I thanked God he was still alive.'
ALGERIA
Nabil Salek Salma, 8 year old Saharawi refugee....
© Andrew McConnell
00116942
Smara Refugee Camp
Nabil Salek Salma, 8 year old Saharawi refugee. Pictured in Smara refugee camp, Algeria: 'I am eight. I live in Smara [refugee camp] with my father and mother, my uncle, my grandfather and my brother. I play football and sometimes I lie down alone. In school we learn Arabic, Spanish and Technology. The best thing in the world is God, the second best thing is praying, the third best is my father and mother. My favourite thing is sleeping. I want to be the Chief of Police when I grow up. When anyone says anything rude to me I will give him a slap! I want to get my land with tanks and weapons and everything. If I'm not afraid of my father and mother how can I be afraid of anything else? For me all Moroccans are one finger or a teapot, they are nothing! If the other boys are free people they will fight with me, if they are not let them get out of here!'
ALGERIA
Khadjeton Brahim Baydati, 13 year old Saharawi...
© Andrew McConnell
00116943
Smara refugee camp
Khadjeton Brahim Baydati, 13 year old Saharawi refugee. Pictured in Smara refugee camp, Algeria: 'In the morning I go to school, I study maths, Arabic and Technology. I come home at 1pm and eat and then clean the house and help my mother. At 4pm I go back to school and we study Spanish. After school I study the Koran with other girls in a woman's house. It is important to learn how to pray and how to be a Muslim. It is the most important thing, God gives everything. After that I come home again and help my mother to clean and wash. I like it here, my family is here. I know I am a refugee, sometimes it hurts to think this. I have been in Spain four times and once in Italy. Ice cream is the best thing about Spain, I like it there with all the other girls and boys.'
ALGERIA
Brahim Mohamed Fadin, 17 year old Saharawi refugee....
© Andrew McConnell
00116944
Smara refugee camp
Brahim Mohamed Fadin, 17 year old Saharawi refugee. Pictured in sand dunes near Smara refugee camp, Algeria: 'I don't like to be in the refugee camps. I know that the Algerians receive us and help us for many years but I want to be free in my own country. I am in High School in Algeria and Saharawis always get the best grades there. We are learning for our people, we learn to spread our history and in Algeria we can do that. I'm studying maths and my goal is to be an engineer. I wish I could help my country, it needs a lot of specialists. I would rather live in the camps than live under Moroccan control.'
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