I was born in 1964 in El Aaiún in the occupied territory. It was very beautiful and we had no problems with the Spanish. Most of the time we spent in the desert, we were bedouin. When the Moroccans came in 1975 it was a black day. We were in the desert camping and a lot of people came. I was sick at the time and I was taken in a truck to Guelta. Some of my family stayed in El Aaiún and some were put in jail like my brothers and cousins. I have seen them only once since [with UN family exchange program]. In the camps we were happy because we were fighting the Moroccans. The Algerians sent us food, there was no UN then. We didn't think of the difficulties, we looked after the men and dug trenches in case they bombed the camps. I remember the cold at night, during the days we hid in the earth. When the ceasefire was signed everything was calm and the humanitarian aid started to come.

I have lived in Dakhla [refugee camp] for 33 years, it's nice but it's not nice. We have enough to eat now and I have raised my family here but this is not our home and we will not feel good until we return there [to Western Sahara]. Our people are being jailed and persecuted by Morocco. The UN stopped the war but they didn't bring peace, they should do something. It was good to stop the war but you cannot leave things like this, Morocco are still punishing our people. There will be freedom, the Moroccans will go back to their lands. I don't know how but we cannot spend more time like this. If you don't have a proper life it's better to die fighting.