BookRevicws 101
War and Refugees, The Western Sahara Connkt, Richard Lawless and Lalla Monahan
(eds). Frances Pinter, Londoo. 1987 (201pp. price not stated, ISBN 0 86187 900 7).
Two thirds of the contributions, collected papers presented at Oxford University Refugee
Studies Programme in 1986, dea1atgreatlength with the theory and practice of decolonisation.,
with special reference to the Western Saharan case. The part played by the World powers
in the Westan Saharan conflict is analysed on a regional and globa1leve1. Further papers
discuss the lives of the refugees, and lessons and prospects for people who are inenforced
exile and "dependent on the continued interest of the international conununity".
Hodges writes that the "aim of this collection is to cast fresh light on the multiple facets
of the Western Saharan conflict", which, in his view, had ''received far less attention than
it warranted". In this respect, the inclusion of an informed Saharawian voice would have
been appropriate and relevant. The fmal contributions analyse the role of the Saharawi
woman in war and as a refugee. Perhaps the most informative and insightful writing in this
collection.
It should be noted thatpeople cannotbe independent when depending upon the goodwill
of donors. The Saharawi people have transformed this dependent situation by relying upon
a fierce se1freliance. having nev« been a subjugated people and able to endure the
remoteness and inhospitality of their desert homeland.
Hodges, Franck and Joffe draw the reader's attention to the violations of the principles
of decolonisation laid down by the United Nations General Assembly in resolution 1514
of 1960. In the forty year history of decolonisation there have been three exceptions to the
decolonisation process, Western New Guinea, the Timor colonies, and the Western Sahara,
a Spanish colony.vw the ¥~ans occupied against the :w~f the inhabitants. The
case of the Saharawi waS heard by the International Court of J~ and in 1975 the UN
General Assembly resolution 3458A (XXX)re.t'fmnetl"1h4?'~~ right of the people
of the Spanish Sahara to se1fdetennination". But they remain in exile, another flagrant
example of the atbitrary nature of international principle.
TheMoroccangove:rnmenthas consistently violated the Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights which they ratifIed in August 1979, and hundreds of Saharawi have vanished. The
disappearllllCeS are a further exposure of a disregard for law: "little short of terrorism".
For O'l{era decade 160 000 Saharawi women, men and children have lived in four
refugees camps near the Algman border, fleeing from the Moroccan army who attacked
dd"emeless pecple with napalm and cluster bombs. The Polisario Front (the armed
lib«ation movement) has been fighting for se1fdetennination since 1975 when the Spanish
colonialists agreed to divide the Western Sab.a between Morocco and Mauritania, without
coosulting the Saharawian pecple.
The media usuallyportrays refugees u passive and helpless, but the Saharawians have
created ordered, stable ccmmunities. Environmentally the region is inhospitable barren
desert, with extreme temperaturechanges. Food production isdifficult md most of the food
is provided by external dooon and AIgeriL Algma JrOvides more thm 90pereart of the
funding because of the paucily of intemational donors. The UNHCR auUts only selected
vu10enble refugees (World Refugee Survey, 1986).
The Sahlraw have an orglllised daily life in the camps. Except for the vtzy old, evtzy
adult has a role in servicina cunp life Ihrough pmicipation in neighbourhood committees
102 BOOUnWw8
for health, education.1ocal production. social affairs and provisions. The administration and
organisation is strong and effective. 'There are fully functioning schools, health care clinics,
and nutrition centres. Aid is given directly to the Saharawi people, through their own
Idministration. This is the only way the Saharawis can control the aid they teeeive for the
running of the camps. BefOte 1975 over 90 percent of Saharawi women were illiterate, but
JIleallUl:eI were taken to make education accessible to all. Women now manage the training
centres, lOll the creches, hospitals and clinics, do the training. teach and nurse, organise,
distribute food and other supplies, and bring up the children. Women's rights have been
protected by progressive reforms. Arranged marriages can no longer take place without
agreanent, dowries have disappeared, and women work and argue as equals.
The Slbarawi haveaeated an organised, caring society with the fun dynamic of women
positively involved, both in the struggle for liberation and for their own respect and status,
alongside the necessity to survive as nationals of the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic.
While this publication is a rigorously researched collection of essays which will serve
students of the SlIharawi conflict well, there is a tendency to use oppressive academic
language which may exclude a wider reading public. Inthe study of refugees, the refugees
themselves know what is best for them, and they deserve to be asked and listened to. All
who work in the field of refugee relief, aid and development would be wise to take a look
at the Saharawi way of doing things.
Reviewed by M N Minde1,.Harare, Zimbabwe.
CbDd Abuse ud Its Consequences. Observational Approaches, Rachel Calam and
Christiana Franchi. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1987 (x+226 pp. US$13,95
pbk. ISBN 0 521 3161146 pbk).
Therather sweeping title of this book is misleading. implying amajor theoretical statement
or overview of research in the area. In fact the book reads more like a dissertation, being
a report of research undertaken by the authors in an English day centre for at risk children.
The title 'family Centre' for the day centre is also misleading. since siblings and fathers or
other familymembers did not attend. Basically it was a day nursery run by highly qualified
professional staff with compulsory attendance by mothers at certain times.
The mainbody of the book details the behavioral observation of eleven children at the
centre, in interaction with staff, peers and their own mothers. The account makes valuable
reading for anyone considering undertakil"tg research into child abuse, with its emphasis on
the importmce of direct observation of the child and child-parent communication process,
the summary of constraints, and the discussion of the different uses of statistical versus the
CISe study 1IJIP'Oacbes. The lack of a control group is explained, but is nevertheless a
weakness. The authors do not discuss the possibility that aiterion behaviours might be
equally common incontrols md there is no way of assessing from the study how much
nonabused children might also exhibit wak:hfu1nea, hostility, etc.
Another weakness in the book lies in a thecreiical discrepancy which might be
particu1.ly troublesome in a culture such as ours where some physical chastisement is
nonnative. The authors seem to assume implicitly that any corporal punishment is
undesirable, in spite of the fact that they themselves point out that degree of injuIy has no