Dissident participants who represent the grassroots in the Tindouf camps expressed at their historical congress their rejection of the political line of the current Polisario leaders, their mismanagement for the ongoing negotiations with the Kingdom of Morocco in Manhasset under UN aupicies.

The council held on 17 and 18 December 2007 its second regular session in Smara under the theme "autonomy final solution for reconciliation and return", during which it stressed that Morocco is developing the necessary arrangements to deal with the massive return of the Moroccan detainees in Tindouf to be received in the best conditions.
 
In a communiqué issued on the occasion of Gjijimat Conference, a number of tribes of the Tindouf camps expressed their support to autonomy proposal put forward by the Kingdom of Morocco, if it guarantees them a dignified return to the motherland and preserve their economic, social and cultural identity, which came in the Moroccan proposal.

  Following is the full text of Gjijimat communication:

Gjijimat Meeting: 100 Moroccan Sahrawis return home
2/27/2008

 Nearly 100 Moroccan Sahrawis, including 20 children, have returned to Morocco over the last 24 hours.
 
    The Sahrawis, who arrived in three groups to El Karkrat, fled the Tindouf Camps (southwestern Algeria) where thousands of Moroccan-Sahara natives are held against their will by the Algerian-backed separatist movement Polisario.

    Among those who returned are several Sahrawis who participated in the Gjijimat meeting, held in mid December to voice adherence to Morocco's autonomy proposal aimed at solving the three-decade long conflict over Morocco's Southern Provinces (The Sahara) with the Polisario. The meeting was held at the same time as the so-called 12th Congress of Polisario leadership in the buffer zone of Tifariti. 

    During this meeting, held under the sign "Autonomy as a Final Solution to Achieve Reconciliation and Dignified Return to the Homeland", the organizers spoke up for the plan, which Morocco proposes to grant substantial autonomy to the Sahara under its sovereignty.

    Sahrawi sources said that other families are preparing to return to Morocco in the coming days.

    Upon arrival, some of the Sahrawis described the dire conditions in these camps, stressing that most of their brethrens wait for the first opportunity to come back to Morocco.

    They also called for lifting the blockade imposed on their relatives and called on all Sahrawis to return home to enjoy dignified, united and stable life in Morocco.       

    A former Spanish colony, the Sahara was retrieved by Morocco in 1975 under the Madrid Accord. A year later, the Polisario claimed the separation of the territory from Morocco, and lured thousands of Moroccans into joining it in Tindouf where they are still held against their will.  

Some domestic and foreign  newspaper articles on Gjijimat Conference

Aujourd'hui le Maroc: Ms Naba Deddah El Meki, member of Gjijimat group

     
"Embezzlement of humanitarian aid is systematic"
Naba Deddah El Meki, former responsible for the distribution of humanitarian aid to Tindouf explained to ALM how Polisario, in complicity with Algerian authorities, diverted humanitarian aid intended for hostages.




ALM: What it really going on in Tindouf camps?
Naba Deddah El Meki: I lived in the Tindouf camps from 1979 to early 2008. Throughout this period, I have held various positions: head of the Youth Office, a teacher and a corporal. The situation is simply disastrous; Polisario leadership takes advantage from the conflict while the majority of sequestered people are needy. Worse, they have become an instrument of asking charity from international NGOs. 

How does Polisario leadership manage to get humanitarian aid?
Polisario leadership has made a lot of money by using hostages. It used a horrifying description of the situation in the camps to get aid, is subsequently diverted to their original objectives. Polisario distributes only a small part of this aid, while the rest is sent to Mauritania, Algeria and Mali, to be resold onto the black market. Time has come to inform international public opinion about the real destination of the humanitarian aid which enriches Polisario at the expense of the sequestered. The most influential members of the front have now accounts containing millions of dollars in European banks, in addition to luxury homes in Algeria, Spain and Mauritania.   

What arguments could you put forward to prove aid embezzlement?
There so many examples. Once they arrive on site, international NGOs representatives ask to meet those who will take aids. Polisario officials bring young girls, still minor but presented as mothers of families composed of six members or more. These girls are chosen from the ones who are close members of the front leadership. Sometimes people put pressure on them to keep them silent.   

Algerians also take part in these operations. I can assure you that every year some 200 to 300 caravans carrying aid (children's toys, nappies, perfumes) offered by Spanish NGOs, once arrived in Algeria, are redirected to warehouses of some of the powerful men of the Algerian intelligence, in agreement with Polisario leadership.

Could you tell us examples of embezzlement operations you witnessed?
There is the affair of medical scanner offered to the population in Tindouf by a Swiss NGO, which was transported then resold in Mauritania, by a Polisario senior official. When members of this NGO came afterwards for the installation, they did not find it. The scanner was missing. For fear that this scandal would adversely affect their image before the international public opinion, Polisario leaders sent the army to Zouerate in Mauritania to pick up the scanner and bring it back to the camps. There is also the case of an Italian NGO, which funded the construction of a hospital against one billion and 400 million Algerian dinars. This was a real scandal. At the inauguration, Italians were shocked to see that the hospital did not look like what it should be.  

They realized that their funds were diverted from their goal and sent to the accounts of some members of the Polisario leadership. This scam was conducted by Bouchraya Bayoun, who is now representative of Polisario in Spain.

How to remedy the situation?
International NGOs must assume their responsibility. They should conduct themselves the distribution of aid to those who have rights, or suspend them and wait the setting up of control mechanisms. Polisario leadership has developed a system that allows it to hide the truth and mislead foreign media, such as exaggerating the number of people living in the camps, which do not exceed 50 thousand people. Polisario claims to be around 200,000.

Asharq Alawsat: Polisario elders call the leadership to accept autonomy proposal

They appeal the United Nations to intervene to end the suffering of the population camps

  17/12/2007
Gjijimat (Tifariti suburbs) - Polisario elders meeting in «Gjijimat» in Tifariti suburbs, buffer zone in the desert, appealed the United Nations and the international community to intervene to put an end to the suffering of the people in Polisario camps who are living bad social, economic conditions. 

Important tribal personalities urged to find a quick solution to the problem of the Sahara, calling on Polisario leadership to accept the autonomy proposal made by Morocco to settle this conflict as the most appropriate solution proposed. It also enjoys broad international support, they said.

Congressmen organized several protests in different parts of the Sahara for the past three days, refusing « Polisario’s tyranny and poor management» of their cause which enters the fourth decade, without any signs of a just settlement seeming near. They are desperately in need of such settlement with regard to the current difficult life and security suffered by the population.

Congress spokesman, Hmad Ould Driouch, set foreign bodies responsible for setting obstacles to reaching a solution to the Sahara problem. He called in this context to put an end to trading in this file «beneficial to just a few people at the expense of others», he said.
 
  Ould Darwish said in a lengthy speech that most of the aid provided to the Sahrawi people, are sold in other regions of Mauritania, Mali, by prominent leaders in the front, which increases the magnitude of the difficulties facing the population in Lahmada camps who find themselves forced to migrate elsewhere in search of daily food.

  Potesters strongly denied the accusations against them of taking bribes from certain elements of the Moroccan government to carry out such activities, in conjunction with the Conference of the Polisario Front in the buffer zone, noting that these rumors are part of malicious propaganda campaign aimed to cover up the reality of the Polisario Front, which became  fragile from inside after the growing divisions in its ranks, and its inability to find an appropriate solution to end the conflict over the Sahara for more than thirty years.

This is the first time where the voices of opposition are heard from within the Front. According to one of the activists, they were going to hold a parallel Congress with the Front Conference to express their rejection of the policy pursued by the leadership, adding that the harassment they faced led them to forego this step and go to other parts of the Sahara to perform their mission at any cost.

The opponents of the Front, expressed in «Gjijimat statement» their support for self-government to «provide a dignified and decent conditions for the return of our people to their homes in the framework of democracy, freedom and respect for human rights. It will be an opportunity to be compensated materially and morally for their suffering during this period of time ». Delegates also expressed at the conclusion of the protest gathering held under the slogan «Autonomy as final solution for reconciliation and return»  support  to the «approach » followed by the President of the Royal Advisory Council for Saharan Affairs, under the auspices and guidance of King Mohammed VI

Al Hayat newspaper: the voices raised in Gjijimat Congress are those who suffer in Tindouf
12/25/2007

The voices raised in Gjijimat Congress, held during the "Polisario" congress by Chioukhs and chiefs of Saharan tribes, are those who "suffer the most in the Tindouf camps," writes "Al Hayat" newspaper.  

In its Friday edition, the paper believes that "what Polisario really needs is not the threat of war that it has never won, but to make self-criticism after three decades of obstacles that have impeded the realization of the Maghreb aspirations for peace, stability and integration".
Khalihenna: Smara Call came after spontaneous response to autonomy

"There is no need for (Polisario) to take refuge in what it considers the defense of self-determination principle or other commitments but the most important thing for it is to adopt the best approach to enable the region achieve its objectives of relaxation, reconciliation and understanding in order to chase away superficial disputes, says Al Hayat. 

"Polisario" is now different from what it was during the outbreak of the conflict in the context of a cold war characterized by "ideological domination and the use of the regime contradictions in the region," said the newspaper, adding that "Polisario" is not responsible for the continuation of the conflict alone, because it "is part of a system encompassing regional relations, historical and ideological influences and fields of competition and conflict".

By presenting an initiative to grant a broad autonomy to the southern provinces, Morocco has adopted "a compromise formula to the international community" which guarantees people democratic management of their local affairs, being convinced that restoring security and stability is priceless, said "Al Hayat".

According to the newspaper, Gjijimat Congress was held by the sheikhs and heads of Saharan tribes, who have called on "Polisario" leadership to accept the proposal to grant a broader autonomy to the Sahara, adopt a political solution and dedicate internal democracy. 

Khalihenna: Gjijimat Conference is a break in Plisario pyramid
12/18/2007

On the occasion of the second regular session of the Royal Advisory Council for Saharan Affairs in Smara, Corcas chairman, Mr. Khalihenna ould Errachid held an important press conference.

Below full text of this conference:

Introduction By Mr. Chairman:

    Smara, which hosts this session and at the same time is an occasion to clarify all the questions that must be cleared about the Sahara, or to correct the information on the current situation, especially in relation to large-scale division, within tribes in the ranks of Polisario, which is currently represented in Gjijimat Congress in the suburbs of Tifariti for the first time since 1975. This is not an escape of a personality or a leader from the Polisario but it is a separation of the base of the pyramid. Tribes are protesting in the buffer zone in northern Mauritania. They express trough the press their support for autonomy and their rejection of the current situation. Let’s open questions session , there will be a question from the right and a question from the north.

Question: We want more details on Gjijimat Congress and separation. Do you have any initiative to protect people if subjected to any risk  

Khalihenna Ould Errachid: this is a very important question, let me answer. Gjijimat is located at 20 kilometers Southeast of Tifariti ie it lays between Tifariti and the Mauritanian border. The Conference was held on 14 but it was on the edge of the Moroccan Mauritanian border. Therefore, the Mauritanian authorities represented by the Governor of Oum Grine, which is located 200 km from the same site and issued a decree banning this conference in relation to least the construction of tents. He asked people to remove the tents and the reason is that Mauritania is worried about the outbreak of conflict in the region. when this occurred and by the intervention of police forces the tribes dispersed in the same area and reached the press: Aljazeera, which completed the first reporting in the same region, and Al-Arabiya and Al Hurra, who volunteered to go 500 kilometers from Zouerate to the region in these difficult security conditions. Now the tribes are still in the region, and of course we are making contact with these brothers. They issued a statement called Gjijimat Declaration which has been published and which clearly reflects their suffering and their rejection of the political approach by the Polisario Front. We are arranging the protection of these people as individuals and as groups, to bring them home. Of course, this would be a large-scale arrangements and requires human, financial and logistical arrangements. However, they are under our protection, we are providing security for them and they secure themselves since they know the region. People who organized Gjijimat Congress are from the following tribes: Rguibat Swaed Tribe, Rguibat Ouled Moussa Tribe, Rguibat Ouled Skeikh, Rguibat Ouled Daoud, Ouled Dlim,  Ouled Ben Sbaa. Ben

Those who did not have permission to accede were not allowed in as you know,  Tindouf camps are on the Mauritanian and Algerian-Moroccan border. All those who wanted to come to this region should pass from this gateway. They tried to prevent people to participate which caused unrest in the camps. People who were prevented from participating, distributed leaflets during the past three days. The last publication is dated yesterday. We of course have the copy of the publication I will send it to news agencies. 

Polisario took two key decisions. First to prevent people from leaving the camps and second imposing military siege to prevent leakage and sabotage. As you can see on TV the military aspect is prevailing in the Congress. 

Now the situation in the region is that there are tribes in various regions. Now we are preparing logistically for their return. Some of them are with members of their families and others their wives and their children are still in the camps and are now in a dilemma between whether to come back individually or stay in the camps and see ways to come back together.  There is great tension in this region, there is anarchy in the camps and in Tifariti. Of course, we are trying to deliver food and relief to these brothers and especially basic relief that we have tried to deliver them and the media to say their suffering to the world.