The Sirocco blows constantly, lifting sand and dust in the vast arid land surrounding the Dajla refugee Camp. The Sahrawi people fled from their land, Western Sahara, thirty-three years ago. In 1976, Spain withdrew from the territories of its former colony of Western Sahara, which up to then had been considered a Spanish province, allowing the military invasion – known as the “Green March” – of the Sahrawi territory by the Moroccan kingdom.

For years the Sahrawi people had demanded their independence, supported by the international community through various resolutions of the United Nations (UN) and the International Court of Justice in The Hague. On 27 February 1976, as the last Spanish soldier departed from the territories, the Sahrawi people proclaimed the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic. War broke out between the Polisario Front, representatives of the Sahrawi people, and the kingdom of Morrocco.

A ceasefire was reached in 1991 through the creation of a peace plan for Western Sahara mediated by the UN and the Organization of African Unity. That plan envisioned a referendum for self-determination in which the Sahrawi people could freely decide their destiny. Since then, the obstacles continually imposed by the Moroccan administration have delayed the process, bringing it to the stalemate in which the Sahrawis presently find themselves.

Thousands of Sahrawi men and women, who had left their land before the invasion and subsequent Moroccan repression, crossed the border between Western Sahara and Algeria. Those who survived this desert crossing settled in the Algerian region of Hamada de Tindouf, “the desert of the desert.” When the Sahrawi refugees arrived they set up their jaimas (tents) and set about organizing their camps with international support. The scarcity of water, electricity, and food exacerbate the climatic conditions they have to endure.

For more than three decades Saharawis have lived exiled in a no man’s land. There are approximately 200,000 people, mostly women, children and young people, living in precarious and extremely harsh conditions in the most inhospitable region of the desert, surviving with dignity and hoping that the long-anticipated referendum will at last take place. More than 50,000 of them inhabit Dajla Refugee camp, a strip of dry land stretching for miles and surrounded by emptiness. These difficult years in Dajla Refugee Camp have seen the construction of schools and hospitals, thanks also to the help of several humanitarian organizations.

This year, in April 2008, Fisahara celebrated the 5th annual International Sahara Film Festival. Fisahara is a solidarity initiative that aims to support the Sahrawi cause and bring it to the attention of the international community, while also bringing a breath of the outside world to the Saharawis living in such extreme isolation.

A huge screen under a black starry sky, such a marvel… People from all over the camp gathered in the main square, if it can be called that, to sit or lie on dusty rugs spread on the ground and wait for the movies to begin. For years the Sahrawi people had demanded their independence, supported by the international community through various resolutions of the United Nations (UN) and the International Court of Justice in The Hague.

On 27 February 1976, as the last Spanish soldier departed from the territories, the Sahrawi people proclaimed the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic. War broke out between the Polisario Front, representatives of the Sahrawi people, and the kingdom of Morrocco.