A Sahrawi-Australian woman has called for more recognition of her people’s struggle for independence in the Western Sahara. Credit: SBS
A Sahrawi-Australian woman has called for more recognition of her people’s struggle for independence in the Western Sahara. The disputed territory is known as the last African colonial state yet to achieve independence and has been under an illegal Moroccan military occupation since 1975. Despite promises of self-determination from the international community, the future of the Sahrawi people remains unclear.
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TRANSCRIPT
«Whenever I say I’m from Western Sahara or I was born in a refugee camp, people are like ‘oh, where is that?’ Lots of people here didn’t know about Western Sahara. And I take that opportunity to explain to them about the struggle of my people and our struggle for self-determination.»
Gaby Alamin is a Sahrawi-Australian woman living in Melbourne.
While she juggles being a mother, a university student and an educator, she also makes time to advocate on behalf of her family and her people who have been fighting for independence for generations in northwestern Africa.
However, her presence in Australia is unique as she says she’s not aware of a single other Sahrawi woman in the country.
«What I understand is that I’m the only Sahrawi woman in Australia. And I think because of the geographical location, the distance between Australia and North Africa. So it’s very hard for us and for my people to migrate to Australia.»
Her people, native to the disputed Western Sahara region, have been living under an illegal military occupation by Morocco since 1975.
Despite the United Nations recognising their right for self-determination and promising a referendum to finally decolonise the region in 1991, the Sahrawi people are still waiting for the chance to vote for either independence or integration with Morocco.
Ms Alamin’s parents fled amid the violence in 1975 and she was born in a refugee camp in neighbouring Algeria where about 165,000 Sahrawis reside in hopes of one day returning to their homeland.
«In the refugee camps where I was born and raised, life there is really difficult and the conditions are quite harsh. It’s the desert. Sometimes the temperature reaches 50 degrees. One of the things that is amazing about the camps: we have a great sense of community. People are always uplifting and they always have a hope to go back to their home country, to western Sahara and to have a better future.»
Dr Randi Irwin, a lecturer at the University of Newcastle has conducted anthropological research with Sahrawi refugees in the refugee camps and can attest to the harsh conditions there.
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Origen: The Sahrawi-Australian woman advocating for her people’s independence | SBS News