Why I’m not married yet

42-year old Hamdi would like to marry but he can’t afford to, thanks to his economic situation – one that is shared by many other Sahrawis in the occupied territory.

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© Paulo Nunes dos Santos

This is one of a collection of seven short stories from inside the Moroccan Occupied Territory. These are ordinary Sahrawi people who responded to Konstantina Isidoros’ request for every-day examples of the difficulty of living under an occupying power. She has retained their anonymity.

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Abdullah narrates his story as someone who believes in the right of the Saharawi people to self-determination and believes this principle is the basis for the future. But he also believes that there is no future for the Sahrawi in Morocco especially after the events of Gdeim Izik and Dakhla.

I am 29 years with employment in the Moroccan administration. And although I have never visited the Polisario and do not have any contact with them and I have never visited Algeria, and I lived all my life in Dakhla and between different Moroccan cities, I do not have confidence in everything offered by the Moroccan State.

I have little confidence in my experience of 29 years under the occupation of the Moroccan state because I do not trust that there is a future with them because the indicators confirm to me that they look at us all as enemies and wait for the opportunity to pounce on us. I really do not feel comfortable and I do not feel part of the Moroccan state, because I am sure that they always lie.

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