For three weeks, Rezé is hosting seven children from Western Sahara for a holiday. They will be staying with locals in the evenings and on weekends, and in a leisure centre during the week. The association Enfants réfugiés du monde, a partner in the action, recalled the situation of the Sahrawi people, who continue to fight for their self-determination.
Every year, for over forty years, the City of Rezé has welcomed a group of children living in Western Sahara for three weeks of vacation. The official reception took place on Tuesday, July 9, in the evening, at the town hall. This action is the result of a partnership between the association Enfants réfugiés du monde (ERM) and the community. The ceremony was held in the presence of Chabane Berdja, Algerian consul, and Mohamed Zerouali, representative of the Polisario Front, the Western Sahara independence movement, in France.
Locals welcome children
Accompanied by Fadel Sidi, a journalist and translator, there are seven children: four girls and three boys. Mariem, Mounina, Nasra, Leila, Melainine, Anas and Dahan. During the day, they are looked after in an Arpej leisure center. In the evenings and on weekends, they are with volunteer host families.
So, 9 years old, Dahan will live with Nolwenn Roy, mother of two children. This is the first time that we have welcomed a Sahrawi child. My husband, we wanted to show solidarity. The children are well taken care of. Yesterday, they went to see the Machines de l’île, in Nantes, ” explains the young woman, smiling.
Support for the struggle for self-determination
Françoise Bulteau, president of ERM, wanted to recall where the children had taken income from, and the difficult situation of the Sahrawi people, confined in refugee camps in Algeria. Most of them live ” in great precariousness, suffer from malnutrition and anemia which have consequences on their state of health, affirms the president. In the territories occupied by Morocco, the violation of human rights continues. However, the Sahrawi people continue to fight to have their right to self-determination recognized and we support them.
In addition to welcoming children during the holidays, ERM trains health personnel in the Tindouf camps (Algeria), where the children are living. Twenty-nine nurses graduated in 2024. Before joining their host families, the children received gifts from Mayor Agnès Bourgeais and the Algerian consul. At the end of their stay, they will leave for Lanester (Morbihan), to spend the rest of these French and solidarity holidays there.
