For almost 50 years, Western Sahara has occupieds by Morocco. It is a conflict that rarely gets coverage in the international media. At the same time, over 200 Western Saharais live in refugee camps, cut off from their homeland. Development magazine Isabel Odelfelt och Meklit Teklu has spoken w/ jourthe nationalist Asria Mohamed, ohch film makerren Mohamedsalem Wared when they recently visited Sweden.
“We are completely invisible. It's sad to say, but we are not in the media,” says Asria Mohamed, a Western Sahara activist, journalist and stand-up comedian.
Although Western Sahara is one of the world's most protracted, unresolved conflicts, she is often met with ignorance when she talks about her origins.
– When I came to Norway and said, “Hi, I’m from Western Sahara,” people just said, “Huh?” They didn’t know what it was. It was a shock. Then I came to Sweden – and it was the same thing there.
Since Asria moved to Norway, she has engaged in political advocacy work within the Nordic region, the goal being that the Nordic countries will have a consistent and principled stance on the issue of Western Sahara.
A forgotten conflict
Since 1975, Morocco has controlled about two-thirds of Western Sahara, an area that according to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) does not belong the occupying power. After 16 years of war between the Moroccan government and the Polisario Front, a UN-brokered ceasefire was signed in 1991. The plan was for the Sahrawi people to vote on independence or integration with Morocco. But more than three decades later, no vote has yet taken place. implemented.
The UN force MINURSO, which was created to monitor the ceasefire and organize the referendum, has been widely criticized for its inaction. When the agreement was broken in 2020, the conflict between the Moroccan government and the Polisario resumed, in the form of a low-intensity armed conflict. conflictMINURSO is also one of the few UN forces that does not have a mandate to report on crimes against humanity. rights.
Today, around 200 Western Sahara residents live in refugee camps in southern Algeria – many for almost five years. decades.
Silence as a strategy
According to Asria Mohamed, the media invisibility is not a coincidence. She believes that Morocco is actively trying to control the narrative about the conflict, and that the absence of Sahrawi voices in the media makes this possible.
– When we Western Saharais lack a platform, then they [Morocco] get to own the narrative. They get to tell the story because we are not there to respond to it, she says.
In the documentary Haiyu, a collaboration between the film collective RåFILM from Sweden and Saharawi Voice from the Western Sahara refugee camps in Algeria, depicts life and resistance through the eyes of Western Sahara singer and activist Mariem Hassan. Mohamedsalem Werad is one of the directors and lives in one of the refugee camps in Algeria.
– There is a military occupation underway with the support of several Western countries. We Western Saharais are not demanding the impossible. We just want the right to govern our own country and live in peace, he explains..
In 2020, during President Trump's first term, the United States recognized Morocco's sovereignty over Western Sahara. At the same time, the EU has an ambivalent stance. In 2024, the European Court of Justice annulled a trade and fisheries agreement with Morocco because it covered the occupied territory and was therefore deemed to be in breach of international law.
At the same time, Morocco is an important partner for the EU. migration and asylum packageThe country is described as the EU's migration gatekeeper that controls migration from sub-Saharan Africa to Europe, often in exchange for economic and political support from EU.
– Morocco has diplomatic advantages. Many states avoid putting pressure, partly because of the migration issue, partly because of Europe's growing energy needs after Russia's invasion of Ukraine. This has made Morocco almost immunet against criticism, says Asria Mohamed.
The silence is not just symbolic. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) describes the situation in occupied Western Sahara as a “news darkness.” Foreign journalists have difficulty gaining access, and local Western Sahara journalists are subjected to harsh reprisalsCriticism of the occupation is prohibited and freedom of movement is limited.
"We need more eyewitnesses on the spot. More people need to travel there and document what's happening. That's the only way to break the silence," says Asria.
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