Reportage:

Sahara Film Festival

00001.jpgThe 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.April 2008 markedt the 5th annual International Sahara Film Festival celebration. 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.

View the gallery


Niger Delta Chronicles

00002Chronicle from the Niger Delta aims to provide an in-depth account of what is happening in Nigeria’s volatile oil-extracting region. Plagued by corruption, environmental disasters and ethnic conflict, more recently it has witnessed waves of kidnappings and attacks on oil installations carried out by armed rebel groups and gangs of robbers. All this against a background of widespread illiteracy, the absence of a middle class and, for the majority of people, incomes of less than a dollar per day.On 29th May 2007 Nigeria witnessed the official end of Olusegum Obasanjo’s eight-year presidency and the inauguration of Alhaji U M Yar’Adua as its new leader, with Deltan Goodluck Jonathan as his Vice.
This was watched with doubtful eyes by international community observers and journalists who had declared the recent democratic electoral process a farce. Yar’Adua’s speech went on to list the seven point agenda from his election campaign: rebuilding physical infrastructure and human capital, accelerating economic reforms, strengthening the capacity of law enforcement agencies and especially police, reducing inflation, maintaining a stable exchange rate, rebuilding basic infrastructure, overcoming the energy challenge. He also pledged that his administration would give urgent attention to the crisis in the Niger Delta.
Although Nigeria is one of the most populous countries in Africa, a major oil producer and rich in resources, its mismanagement, the succession of wars and leaders, inter-ethnic conflict, the corruption and greed of its governors have slowed down the process of development. After more then one year on from Nigeria Presidential Election few steps have been taken toward establishing systems of healthcare and education, developing energy distribution, telecommunications, roads and basic infrastructure, or tackling poverty and unemployment.
Once again the Niger Delta, the sensitive region that produces 80% of the Nigeria’s revenue, is the nation’s Achille’s Heel.
If the situation with militias and rebels worsens, the nation will be brought to its knees.
And this against a backdrop where the majority of the people are already struggling to survive.
View the gallery


Niger Delta Militants

1ecis-copy.jpgThe Seinasawo or Teme (spirit) group is one of many militant groups that have taken up arms against the Government, which is accused of skewing the distribution of wealth from oil revenues.

Members of similar groups are linked to the notorious MEND. The definition of a militant is blurred by the involvement of members and leaders of groups in oil bunkering and territorial fights.

View this gallery


NEAZDP, a Nigerian Positive Story

00014.jpgThe North East Arid Zone Development Programme (NEAZDP) is based in Yobe State, one of the poorest areas in Nigeria, with a harsh, arid climate.
It borders on the southern edge of the Sahara desert, and one of the many challenges faced by inhabitants are moving sand dunes that threaten to engulf villages and oases. Through experimentation NEAZDP has devised an effective method of sand dune fixation using the Prosopis Chilensis tree which has been used to safeguard many villages. NEAZDP is an integrated rural development programme – in other words it sets out to tackle different areas simultaneously – in addition to dune fixation, this encompasses education, water supply, health and veterinary services, agricultural development and so on – in the belief that this is the only was to make the programme sustainable in the long term. This is seen as key in an area with very low literacy and high poverty levels.
NEAZDP was originally funded by the EU with some support from the Nigerian government. It was launched in 1990 and EU funding was originally intended to last for 15 years. However, in 1995, following the execution of Ken Saro Wiwa and eight Ogoni activists, the EU withdrew all development funding to Nigeria and the Programme abruptly lost its EU support. For the past 12 years it has received no EU funding and survives on a fraction of its previous income, money that is provided by state and, sporadically, national government, often with long delays.
One of the most interesting aspects of the story is how the Programme, now run entirely by Nigerians, has survived since 1995 thanks to the dedication and ingenuity of its managers and staff. Its success against the odds seems to be due in part to the sense of ownership felt by local people who take many of the decisions about how the programme will operate in individual villages.

View the gallery


Niger Delta Beliefs

2CCIS.jpgThe Niger Delta region is host to myriad branches of Christianity, often in the form of new evangelical churches. Religion is fundamental part of life. Every Sunday people gather in churches and chapels to listen to the gospel. Religious fervour and an often unquestioning belief in the Bible are combined with belief in magic and ancient animism. Many believers are at the mercy of so-called pastors who reap financial rewards from performing dubious healing rituals or, worse, exorcisms that involve the abuse and torture of young boys and girls suspected of harbouring evil spirits.

View the gallery


BTC Baku Tiblisi Ceyhan Oil Pipeline

0008This Gigantic $4.5bn project is the largest private construction effort in history- a vital oil Artery that will supply the West’s addiction for the next 40 years.
Politically, it is highly charged and part of a grand strategy to reduce the US and Europe’s reliance on the Middle Eastern oil while bringing the troubled Caucasus and Central Asian region further in the Western fold.

But it is also fraught with complications- the construction effort has been plagued with allegations of corruption, incompetence and cronyism.
People who live along the route have had been stripped of their homes and land- often with little or no compensation.
In some areas in Western Georgia, BTC construction project has destabilised an entire mountainside and village threatens to be engulfed by a landslip
All of this in addiction to the grave environmental threat posed by an oil pipeline that passes through at least seven active seismic faults.

In Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey, I have traveled much of the route of the pipeline where the project brought major concerns, interviewing and photographing villagers and local people, from the rusting Soviet oilfields of Baku on Azerbaijan’s Caspian Sea, through the remote mountains of Georgia and the war-torn Kurdish regions of Eastern Turkey.

The Feature would explore the on-the-ground reality of this enormous construction, which is being led with US and UK government support.

View the gallery


Between Dreams and Reality - Kurdistan ‘03

0001.jpgFor decades Turkey has imposed ethnically diverse groups in its territory.
Kurds in the South Eastern Turkey, have been perhaps most affected by these campaign
The people in this region Known as Kurdistan are marginalized by experience of collective isolation and abandonment.
Diyarbakir is a Turkish City in south-eastern region in which 90% of the population is Kurdish

Social Conditions are miserable, children are sent to work and their basic needs, which society should provide, are not catered for.
They roam the streets eager for attention while inhabitants experience poverty and high unemployment as side effect of systematic campaign of dispossession.
Repressive condition in the Past and ongoing state of surveillance, result in a sense of paranoia within community life.
Human rights are taboo subject in public places.

Despite years of struggle and many deaths, life goes on far the Kurdish population.
However, a determined spirit among the people provides a sense of hope for a future free from such trials
The capacity to move forward shapes their struggle for the basic principles they seek, freedom to express their identity, a recognition of this within their citizenship in Turkish state, and ultimate unity for the people of Kurdistan.

View the gallery


Kurdistan, a daily routine

0002.jpgThe problem of children living on the streets is widespread in Diyarbakir. Diyarbakir is a city located in southeast Turkey, a poor region with a history of social unrest caused by the never-ending conflict between the Turkish Government and Kurdish separatists. This has forced rural people from the surrounding mountain villages to move to the city. There is a high rate of unemployment among the population and the majority have large families. As a result children are sent to work as peddlers, garbage collectors, flower sellers or shoe shiners to help raise money for their families. These children do not attend school and are not supervised during the day. Their health and dietary needs are not met, and they are at risk of substance abuse and of turning to crime.

View the gallery