Cate Lewis

Obituary: Sidi Ahmed Eddia Moussa — 1948–2017

Sidi Ahmed Eddia, secretary-general of the Confederated Union of Saharawi Workers (CSTS) was born in El Aaiun in 1948 and died there on January 3, aged 68.

He was well known for his activism, not only for workers’ rights, but also for many other causes supporting Saharawi rights in general. Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony, has largely been occupied by Morocco since the 1970s, and many Saharawis live in refugee camps in Algeria.

Protests supports Egyptian uprising

Four hundred people braved very warm weather to gather at the State Library of Victoria on February 4 to show solidarity with the recent democracy protests in Egypt.

'Saharawi Gandhi' expelled from her home

“Holiday-makers arriving in Lanzarote airport look on with curiosity at the frail woman lying in a nest of blankets on the airport terminal floor”. campaigning British journalist Stefan Simonowitz wrote on November 28 on Afrik.com

Western Sahara — what has really been stolen?

The documentary film Stolen is now largely discredited. It has been in the press recently for its controversial claim that slavery still exists among Saharawis in Moroccan-occupied Western Sahara.

Western Sahara: Phosphate workers exploited by Australia, Spain

Saharawi workers met in El Aaiun in Moroccan-occupied Western Sahara on May 15 to discuss their grievances with their former employers: both Spanish companies and the Spanish government.

Tinariwen — resistance of the Sahara

Tinariwen, who are touring Australia in April, first became known abroad at the initial Festival of the Desert in Mali in 2001, now an annual event. This was also the year it started travelling to Europe. Until then its music was for Tuaregs across the Sahara, an outlet during their resistance struggle, when forced by drought into exile in Libya or south-eastern Algeria in the 1970s.

Stop phosphate trade with Morocco!

As the bulk carrier, Pilion, docked in Geelong on January 9 with phosphate from Western Sahara, the Australia Western Sahara Association (AWSA) called on the fertiliser company Incitec Pivot to stop violating UN regulations by importing phosphate from Western Sahara, the last colony in Africa.