The Western Sahara

Another one of my articles on Impakter magazine: 


Western Sahara

THE WESTERN SAHARA SCANDAL: THE FORGOTTEN EMERGENCY

The Western Sahara scandal. The last colonial war in Africa is still unresolved, in spite of over 40 years of efforts on the part of the United Nations.  A people has been destroyed,  its rights to its native soil confiscated,  half of its people living in refugee camps – three generations now that have never known a normal, free life – while the rest barely ekes out a living in the barren eastern part of the country, just beyond a Berlin-like wall built by the occupant, Morocco.
And all the riches of the country from ocean fisheries and phosphate mining go to Morocco, leaving  not a cent for the native people of the Western Sahara, the Sahrawis.
 
The Berm divides the country: Morocco controls the area to the West, the Polisario to the East. Source: Kmusser
Morocco has brought into the country some 350,000 Moroccan immigrants; they help exploit the phosphate mines and have even set up modern agricultural infrastructures producing tomatoes, while the exploration rights to oil recently discovered in the ocean have been sold to Americans. The Moroccan tomatoes bought by Europeans are often in fact grown in the Western Sahara.
Who knew?
Actually, nobody knows. Or cares. This is an international scandal, one of the worst offenses against human rights and human dignity. And a conspicuous United Nations failure.
How did it all start?

To read the rest of the article, click here.

You will see many comments there already and I signed the petition organized by a Swiss Committee to ask the UN Security Council to organize a referendum as soon as possible, to put a close to this scandal. Join me in signing for this good cause, here's the link: http://www.westernsahara-referendum.org/?section=2&lang=en

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