ELECTRONIC OFFICE

es

|

va

|

en

Benitatxell gets in touch to cooperate with Sahrawi people

13 September 2021

El Poble Nou de Benitatxell builds bridges towards the Sahara. Last week, the mayor, Miguel Ángel García, as well as Culture councillor, Victor Bisquert, had a meeting with the Sahrawi delegate in Alicante, Lehbid Aisalem, and the president of Luali Association – Friends of Sahrawi people of Altea, José Suay, in order to have again the collaborations with the Sahrawi people.

In the meeting, which was the first contact with Sahrawi Delegation of Alicante, the Council was committed to collaborate in the upcoming humanitarian caravan for the Sahrawi people 2021, which will leave from the harbour of Alicante towards the camps of Sahrawi refugees of Tinduf (Algeria) at the end of November. In this caravan non-perishable food and health and school stuff are transported.

But the council wants to go further and strengthen bonds. Join forces with a Sahrawi camp and, when the health restrictions due to COVID-19 got lifted and borders reopen between Spain and Argelia, be able to carry out cultural or sports exchanges between both, Benitatxell and Sahara.

A conflict which is more than 45 years old.

The Sahrawi town has been living a tragedy since 1975. 46 years of exile in Algerian territory for its people. Located in the north-west coast of Africa, the Western Sahara is an old Spanish colony which was annexed by Morocco in 1975. In 1991, a negotiated truce by the UNO finished with the 16 years of violence between Morocco and the POLISARIO, who defend the independence of this territory.

That year, the Security Council agreed to carry out the creation of the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) as part of an arrangement that previewed a transition period to prepare the celebration of a consultation in which Sahrawi people chose between independence and the integration with Morocco. But after years, this referendum has not been held.

After three decades without any change, war tensions between Morocco and the POLISARIO have reopened this conflict. In November 2020, an incursion of Morocco in a demilitarized borderline reactivated the confrontation. And not having enough with this, at the beginning of December, Donal Trump, signed a declaration acknowledging the sovereignty of Morocco over Western Sahara.

The bonds of Benitatxell with Sahrawi people

Long time ago, El Poble Nou de Benitatxell collaborated actively with the Sahrawi cause. Every summer, several families in town hosted Sahrawi children thanks to the programme ‘Vacaciones en paz’ which allowed thousands of children of the refugees’ camps form Tinduf relieve their hard life conditions during summertime as well as improve their health travelling to different places of Spain. In fact, such a strong bond was there that, some of these children that a day back then were hosted and, they nowadays live in town and had settle with their families here.

A regional collaboration

With this meeting, Benitatxell intends to recuperate bonds and cooperate actively with the Sahrawi people as neighbouring towns like Pedreguer, Gata or Teulada do. And that is not all. As the mayor and the Culture councillor pointer out, “we would like to go a little bit further and start a regional collaboration with the Sahrawi people”. That is why, they encouraged other towns in La Marina Alta to show their interest in the necessities of Sahrawi people and contact with Alicante’s Delegation.