Holidays in Peace: Sahrawi children received in different Italian regions

Riano (Rome), (SPS) - The Italian authorities in various regions continue to receive Sahrawi minors continue as part of “Holidays in Peace” program.

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Riano (Rome), (SPS) – The Italian authorities in various regions continue to receive Sahrawi minors continue as part of “Holidays in Peace” program.

After two years of suspension, due to the pandemic, the program “Holidays in Peace” is back, thanks to which this year a hundred Sahrawi children can enjoy their summer vacations, hosted by Italian families.

In the capital of Tuscany, Florence, they were welcomed by major political figures, including Mr. Vito Maeda,Mayor of Rovina and President of the Union of Municipalities of the Southeast Region of Florence.

In Naples the Sahrawi emissaries of peace were received by the president of the municipal council (City Council) of Naples, Enza Amato and the mayor of Naples Gaetano Manfredi.

In the Italian capital, they were received by the Mayor of the city of Riano, Luca Giovanni Attilio Abbruzzettila, who seized the opportunity of their stay in that city to reiterate the support for the just cause of the Sahrawi people.

Earlier, the Andalusian host families received Sahrawi children who arrived at Seville airport as part of the “Holidays in Peace 2022” project, organized by the Association of Friendship with the Saharawi people to spend the summer in Spain.

A total of 52 Sahrawi boys and girls from the Tindouf refugee camps are already in Cantabria to spend their “holidays in peace”, after two years of suspension due to the Coronavirus.

The “Holidays in Peace” program is coordinated by the Ministry of Youth of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) and the Sahrawi delegation in Cantabria.

The first group, made up of 11 minors with disabilities, arrived at Loiu airport (Biscay), and were transferred to the Talledo shelter, provided by the Red Cross. The remaining 41 minors arrived at Vigo airport on Sunday.

In statements to Europa Press Television, some of these foster families recounted the rewarding experience of welcoming Sahrawi children, while inviting other families to join this project, which has resumed after years of pandemic.

In this sense, they indicated that “the main objective is that these Sahrawi children spend the summer in the country and can “benefit as much as possible” from the holidays”. “It is also fundamental” for them to “pass medical examinations and treatment” before returning to the camps.

Another mother said she was “delighted” with this experience. “I encourage all Spanish families to welcome these children. “It’s very nice,” she added.

The children were received at the Parliament of Cantabria, and, later, they took part in a rally in the Plaza de Alfonso XIII, called by the associations “Cantabria for the Sahara” and “Alouda” to denounce the change of position of the Spanish government on Western Sahara.

“Cantabria for the Sahara” insisted that the Saharawi people are “at war and awaiting a solution in accordance with international law that will allow them to return to their country, Western Sahara, in peace and freedom”. (SPS)

Western Sahara is a Non-Self-Governing Territory of the UN that lies in the Sahel region bordered by Algeria, the Kingdom of Morocco, and Mauritania. This territory is home to the Sahrawis, a collective name for the indigenous peoples living in and around the region. They speak the Hassaniya dialect of Arabic. Similarly, many others also speak Spanish as a second language due to the region’s colonial past.

Western Sahara has been on the decolonisation agenda of the UN and AU for more than fifty years. In 1963, Western Sahara was included on the list of non-self-governing territories under Article 73 of the UN Charter to which the UN General Assembly resolution 1514 (XV) of 1960 on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples.

On November 6, 1975, Morocco launched the so-called ‘Green March’, a march of 350,000 Moroccans, a number four times the size of the Sahrawi population back then, into the territory of Western Sahara.

According to Adala UK, on that day, Morocco organized what it called a “Green March” to officially invade the North of Western Sahara moving 350,000 Moroccan settlers to the territory. This occupation coincided with the termination of the Spanish status as Administrative Power, creating a vacuum that imposed on the UN to assume its responsibility there.

Subsequently, the UN Security Council deplored the holding of the march, calling upon Morocco to immediately withdraw all the demonstrators from the territory of Western Sahara; however, its effort was in vain.

The Polisario Front liberation movement continued its struggle to end all foreign occupation of its country and in 1976 formed a government-in-exile and declared the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic. In November 1984, the Polisario Front’s SADR was recognised by the then Organisation of African Unity (OAU), now the African Union (AU), which led to the withdrawal of Morocco from the OAU in protest. In May 1991, the Polisario Front and Morocco ended many years of fighting following an UN-sponsored peace settlement, culminating in the establishment of the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO), which is assuming its responsibility till nowadays.

Despite a cease-fire in 1991 that put an end to the armed combat, Western Sahara remains a disputed territory. Nowadays, Morocco controls parts of the territory. However, the United Nations refers to Western Sahara as a non-self-governing territory and maintains a stance favoring self-determination for its people.

The UN body is attaching great interests to the Sahrawi cause, expressing willingness to find a solution ensuring the self-determination of the Sahrawi people, in accordance with the relevant resolutions of the Council.

After almost 30 years of compliance with a 1991 ceasefire, Morocco and the Polisario Front have resumed war in Western Sahara, as Morocco torpedoed the 1991 ceasefire through its act of aggression on the Sahrawi Liberated Territories on 13 November 2020.

The Moroccan new act of aggression has not only ended the ceasefire and related military agreements but has also undermined the UN peace process in Western Sahara and plunged the region into another spiral of extreme tension and instability.

Both the UN Secretary-General and the Security Council have confirmed the breakdown of the 1991 ceasefire on 13 November 2020. In his report (S/2021/843; para 2) dated 1 October 2021, the UN Secretary-General acknowledged, among other things, “the resumption of hostilities” between the occupying state of Morocco and the Frente POLISARIO. For its part, in its resolution 2602 (2021) adopted on 29 October 2021, the Security Council noted “with deep concern the breakdown of the ceasefire” (PP 14).

The acknowledgment by both the UN Secretary-General and the Security Council of the breakdown of the 1991 ceasefire and the realities on the ground render any attempt to deny or underplay the seriousness of the current situation in MINURSO’s area of operation unacceptable and even misleading at a time when the occupying state of Morocco continues its aggression on the Sahrawi Liberated Territories and its deliberate targeting and killing of civilians and destroying their properties.

The final status of the state of Western Sahara will only be settled when a UN-supervised referendum is held in which the country’s inhabitants must exercise their legitimate right to self-determination.

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