21 August 2015
Mohamed is a child. He has probably benefited from free tickets for children under 12 years with Rototom Sunsplash, but, still,his not any kind of kid. Mohamed is a Sahrawi refugee who, while on holiday with a Spanish host family this summer, is at the Foro Social on Friday 21. But this is not a fluke. Mohamed grabs the microphone just before “The Sahara: 40 years of waiting,” started, algong with the young activist Hassana Aalia and defender of human rights in Western Sahara, Aminatou Haidar. Mohamed thanked the festival for letting him be there and Aminatou for his fight. Cries as she hugs her, and the audience can’t help empathizing with the situation.
Aminatou Haidar and Hassana Aalia are two examples of persecution, violence and atrocious torture which Saharawis have to stand. What they are now trying is to fight for liberation and self-determination of the Sahara after forty years of occupation by Morocco. A violation of human rights is silenced and persecuted if you expres you’re agains to that way of controling. Stories like Mohamed that nobody sees. More than three decades of peaceful protest, the Saharawi people have fought against this civil struggle that is silenced by other countries and media. Mohamed is still wondering why there is a wall that divides their land, why does he have to live in a refugee camp.
Asun Perez
