VZCZCXYZ0000
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHCL #0316/01 0831253
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 241253Z MAR 06
FM AMCONSUL CASABLANCA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 6412
INFO RUEHEG/AMEMBASSY CAIRO 0605
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 0198
RUEHNK/AMEMBASSY NOUAKCHOTT 2170
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 0464
RUEHRB/AMEMBASSY RABAT 7496
RUEHTU/AMEMBASSY TUNIS 1909
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 0597
RUEADWW/NSC WASHDC
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 0009

C O N F I D E N T I A L CASABLANCA 000316 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR NEA/MAG, DRL, PRM/ARF, PRM/A, GENEVA FOR RMA 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/24/2016 
TAGS: MO PBTS PGOV PHUM PREF PREL
SUBJECT: WESTERN SAHARA: PERSPECTIVES OF CBM PARTICIPANTS 
 
REF: A. RABAT 2262 
 
     ¶B. RABAT 0172 
     ¶C. GENEVA 0408 
 
Classified By: Principal Officer Douglas C. Greene for Reasons 1.4 (b) 
and (d). 
 
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Summary 
------- 
 
 ¶1.  (SBU) Summary: During a three day visit to the Western 
Sahara, Poloffs and Cairo-based Regional Refugee 
Coordinator Cheyne had the opportunity to talk to 
participants in UN Confidence Building Measure's (CBM) 
family exchange visits from both sides of the berm (Septel 
from Cairo).  On the 
morning of March 8, 2006, Poloffs and Refcoord met, at 
Smara airport, families being prepared for their return to 
Smara camp in Tindouf, after a five day visit to the city 
of Smara in the Western Sahara.  Most families spoke openly 
and emotionally about their experiences in the camps and to 
family visits in Smara.  All were quick, however to state 
their determination to remain in Tindouf until there is an 
independent Western Sahara.  By contrast, when Poloffs and 
Refcoord spoke to Smarans returning to the Western Sahara 
from their five day visits to Tindouf, they were far less 
forthcoming in sharing observations of camp life.  Poloffs, 
Refcoord, and MINURSO Poloff Carmen Johns, also visited the 
home of a family who has chosen to remain in Smara after 
arriving on a CBM flight from Tindouf.  Head of UNHCR 
operations in the Western Sahara, Laith Khalaf, also gave 
updates on a story of a woman and child (ref B)who have 
been the only visitors from the Western Sahara to ask for 
asylum in Tindouf.  They, however, ultimately returned to 
their home in Western Sahara.  End Summary. 
 
------------------------ 
Off on the Road to Smara 
------------------------ 
 
¶2.  (SBU) On the morning of March 8, 2006, Poloffs and 
Cairo-based Regional Refugee Coordinator Cheyne visited 
families participating in CBM family exchange visits at the 
Smara Airport as they waited for clearance to fly back to 
Smara camp in Tindouf.  Poloffs and Refcoord had the 
opportunity to talk to different family groups including 
one young teacher who spent more than ten years of his life 
in Cuba.  Despite the level of emotion encompassing them, 
those involved were  unanimous in their praise of the CBM 
visitor exchange program as well as the phone services 
provided by UNHCR.  Participants were also unified in their 
response to inquiries about returning to live in the 
Western Sahara, responding they would return only "when" 
the Western Sahara is independent.  Some spoke eloquently 
of their desire for dignity, liberty and humanity in the 
Western Sahara and expressed the importance of freedom. 
Others voiced concern that staying in the Western Sahara on 
one of the CBM visits would be a political statement and 
that the flights are strictly a humanitarian effort and 
should be respected as such. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Differing opinions arose only when individuals 
from the group were asked about life in the camps.  When 
questioned about schools or health care answers ranged from 
"excellent" to "nonexistent."   One young woman sitting 
with her sister and sister-in-law and cradling a very small 
child said that it was "different," then corrected herself 
saying life is "great" in the camp, there is good health 
care and good teachers.  "In the camps we are free."  At 
the same time her sister, also holding a baby broke down 
into tears and was unable to answer the same question.  The 
second family, by contrast was clear that there were no 
schools for the children where they were living and that 
health care was not adequate. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) A small family of three (an adult woman, her 
mother and uncle) had come to see an elderly parent in 
Smara.  Initially, the patriarch of the family did much of 
the talking and when his niece began to respond to a 
question about returning to the Western Sahara, her uncle 
quickly and abruptly silenced her.  When asked about work 
the uncle stated that he would do whatever day labor was 
available, a common response from men in the group.  The 
young woman said she had been educated at a university in 
Algeria and currently works in the administration office of 
the camp.  When asked why the rest of the family did not 
join them for the visit, the older man said there 
were about 200 of them in the camp and there was just not 
enough room for everyone on the flights - the same reason his 
niece gave for her husband not accompanying her.  The 
conversation ended abruptly when a man from another family 
sternly advised in Arabic "don't talk politics", as a 
reminder or warning. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) When Poloffs approached a young boy of 
approximately twelve years of age for his perspective on 
the visit he was immediately joined by his father who had 
been sitting nearby.  The father commandeered the 
conversation speaking of the need to find a humanitarian 
solution to the issue, the excellent quality of schools, 
and the number of educated people in the camps.  He 
stressed, however, that the people in the camps have been 
living as refugees for 30 years and that the 
camps are not their homes. 
 
¶6.  (SBU) The last person with whom Poloffs engaged in 
conversation was a 33 year old teacher.  He stated he had 
been sent to Cuba when he was ten and educated there for 
ten years.  He returned to Tindouf in 1995 to teach.  The 
man appeared more comfortable speaking Spanish than Arabic 
and did so with a MINURSO Civilian police officer throughout 
the 
conversation.  While he spoke he layered on clothing, given 
to him by his family, that exceeded the UNHCR baggage 
allowance.  (Note: Each participant is given a small 
plastic tote bag that they are allowed fill and carry on 
the plane.  If the contents of the bag spills over the top 
it is UNHCR's policy to let the owner wear the excess if 
possible or have it returned to their family locally.)  The 
man claimed a number of children were sent with him to Cuba 
but he had no idea of how many had gone altogether. 
 
------------------------------ 
From the Flip Side Of the Berm 
------------------------------ 
 
¶7.  (SBU) At noon the same day, Poloffs and Refcoord met 
with a group returning from their five day visit to Camp 
Smara in Tindouf.  It was immediately apparent that this 
group was far less emotional then the one in the morning, 
confirming what was said earlier by UNHCR coordinator was 
normally the case.  The returning Smarans seemed far less 
eager to speak with us, much less candid, and in some cases 
downright evasive.  While the visitors from Tindouf 
disagreed on some aspects of life in the camps the Western 
Saharans agreed on nearly everything.  The one exception 
was the extent of damage caused by recent flooding. 
Responses ranged from very little damage to severe 
devastation.  In response to questions about emergency 
relief supplies and food being adequate, the response was 
halting at best with a caveat that if there was not enough 
friends and neighbors helped out whenever possible. 
 
¶8.  (SBU) In general, it was clear that these participants 
were keen to side-step any potential trouble and fearful of 
any repercussions.  When questioned about the quality of 
life in Tindouf, many responded in an indirect but telling 
fashion.  On more than one occasion the curt response was 
"I was able to see my Sister" or brother or father, and 
nothing more.  When Poloffs asked about the work of male 
relatives or schools or health care, more often than not we 
heard the same response, "we never discussed that." 
(comment: An intriguing response considering nearly all the 
visitors claimed to have done nothing but talked with their 
relatives for five days.) 
 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
Confirmation and Criticism From Another Source 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
¶9.  (SBU) The reticence perceived by Poloffs to speak about 
the situation in the camps by those living in the Western 
Sahara was echoed in comments by a National 
Geographic reporter, Karen Lange, who recently visited the 
Western 
Saharan CBM participants in Tindouf.  Lange claims that when 
she asked to meet with them after their return home to the 
Western Sahara they told her that they were not comfortable 
doing so. 
According to Lange, "they were scared at the prospect of 
meeting with me" in Moroccan controlled territory.  Lange 
also confirmed what we heard from various sources that 
young people not involved with the 
CBMs were protesting in the Western Sahara, looking for a 
chance to express their preference through a referendum for 
Independence. 
 
Lange also met in Tindouf with family members who had visited 
the Moroccan side of the berm.  In her words, the visitors 
were decidedly unimpressed by what they saw; rather than 
being struck by the level of development in the 
Moroccan-administered Western Sahara, or commenting on the 
disparities between the two sides, Lange said the returnees 
talked about how the Moroccan Sahara, with all of its 
changes, no longer seemed like their own.  Lange commented to 
Polcouns, &There must be nostalgia at work here, a longing 
for a remembered home.8 
 
¶10.  (C) Lange claimed also that while in Tindouf she heard 
that approximately 9,000 visitors pass through the camps 
each year, some journalists and others solely to express 
solidarity with the Sahrawi people.  She reminded that this 
journalistic coverage 
and commitment from the outside clearly helps sustain the 
Polisario.  She also mentioned that a crew from London's 
Channel 4 television had been forced to leave the Western 
Sahara for 
attempting to film demonstrations.  The film crew was 
surprised by the ejection as they had made proper 
arrangements with the GOM and were not intending to be 
provocative, the reporter said (comment:  post has not heard 
anything further about this supposed ejection of the British 
television team). 
 
---------------------- 
Some Campers Come Home 
---------------------- 
 
¶11.  (SBU) In addition to speaking with those returning to 
their respective homes at the airport, Poloffs, Refcoord, 
and MINURSO Poloff visited a family from the camps who a 
few weeks earlier had decided to remain in Smara while on a 
CBM visit.  According to UNHCR, the head of household, 
Aziza and her four small children arrived in Smara and 
requested permission to stay.  The GOM has provided her 
with a new, furnished home, enrolled her two oldest 
children in school, and is providing her with a monthly 
stipend equivalent to USD 150.  Aziza and her children 
represent almost a third of the visitors who have decided to 
stay in the Western Sahara, fourteen in all. 
 
¶12.  (SBU) Aziza, 31 and blind since birth, sat quietly 
during the visit cradling her one and half year old 
daughter, who is clearly undersized for her age.  Her 
answers to questions were short, not more than a word or 
two, and often flushed out by two cousins from Smara who 
were in attendance during the visit.  According to Aziza, 
she, her sister, brother, and mother were taken by the 
POLISARIO in 1979.  The women and children of the city who 
were out in the fields were taken but the men who had 
stayed in the village were left behind.  Aziza and her 
father had not seen each other in nearly 27 years.  Her 
husband, a POW in the camps, escaped Tindouf nine months 
earlier taking a route through Mauritania and ending up in 
Smara.  When asked if she feared repercussions for her 
siblings and their families still in Tindouf she responded 
"of course, it's normal."  But as yet, according to the CBM 
phone calls she receives regularly since her decision to 
stay, there has been no backlash at all and the rest of the 
family remains on the CBM waiting list. 
 
---------------------------------- 
And Some Decide It's Just too Rough 
---------------------------------- 
¶13.  (SBU) By contrast there has been only one visitor from 
the Western Sahara to travel to Tindouf and decide to 
stay.  (ref B) In January 2006, a woman, seven months 
pregnant, arrived in Tindouf to visit her aunt and other 
family members.  She requested asylum for herself and her 
small son.  According to the UNHCR director, two weeks 
later her husband arrived at the HCR office in Boujdour, her 
home in the Western Sahara, saying she wanted to return. 
The woman had initially decided to stay in Tindouf because 
she had nothing in Boujdour, no job, not enough food, and 
no home.  She returned, however, only two weeks later because 
according to her, the situation was far worse for her in 
Tindouf, including a lack of health services, and she feared 
for her health and that of her unborn child. 
 
------- 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶14.  (SBU) Poloffs were pleased to see participants on both 
sides so clearly overjoyed with the CBM visits. 
Participants also seemed adamant about treating the visits 
as a humanitarian mission and not an opportunity for 
propagandizing.  Unfortunately however, there still appears 
to be fear and skepticism on both sides of the berm about 
repercussions.  In Smara, people claim that there are 
police staged outside each and every home hosting the 
Tindouf visitors 24 hours a day for the duration of the 
trip, presumably to prevent any politicizing of the 
program.  On the Tindouf side we heard from the GOM, UNHCR, 
and MINURSO that fears of "keeping family members hostage" 
in the camps while the rest of the family visits the 
Western Sahara may be justified.  Indeed everyone we spoke 
to from Tindouf had family who had remained in the camps. 
However, considering stories like Aziza's and her visit 
turned relocation with all four of her children, may lead 
one to question if some family members remain in the camps 
simply because of the sheer size of the families.  As one 
head of household put it, I have over 200 family members 
left at camp, there simply is not enough room on the 
flights for all of them "yet." 
GREENE