Sandblast

Sandblast Sandblast is dedicated to building awareness and solidarity for the Saharawis of Western Sahara.

Our main project in the Saharawi refugee camps is Desert Voicebox, providing after school early childhood education in music and English.

‘The Whole Homeland or Martyrdom’Sandblast is sharing more of our favourite excerpts from the archives!Many of these cl...
03/06/2026

‘The Whole Homeland or Martyrdom’

Sandblast is sharing more of our favourite excerpts from the archives!

Many of these clippings document Morocco’s violent invasion of Western Sahara in 1975, the suffering endured by the Saharawi people, and the international calls for solidarity with the Saharawi liberation movement.

“The Congress launches an appeal to all countries and peace-loving forces to give further support to the struggle of our people in order to help realise their aspirations for freedom, dignity and national sovereignty, and to persuade Morocco to comply with international law by accepting a peaceful solution.”

This material offers a rare glimpse into Saharawi life in exile during the earliest years of displacement. Explore and share to better understand the realities of the refugee camps and the resilience of a people at the beginning of their struggle for self-determination!

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Today marks the beginning of the international week of solidarity with the people of non-self governing territories - am...
25/05/2026

Today marks the beginning of the international week of solidarity with the people of non-self governing territories - amongst these are the people of occupied Western Sahara.

This week we remember the struggles that non-self governing peoples around the world face, and re affirm our commitment to the UN principles of self determination and human rights.

Indigenous people across the world deserve the rights to their land and sovereignty - may this week shine a light on our collective demands and strengthen our movement for liberation! 🇪🇭

Between Western Sahara and Palestine, the parallels are structural, visible, and ongoing.Walls divide land and people: M...
12/05/2026

Between Western Sahara and Palestine, the parallels are structural, visible, and ongoing.

Walls divide land and people:
Morocco’s sand berm cuts through Western Sahara, while Israel’s separation wall carves through Palestinian territory.

Occupation is sustained by power:
both are backed by U.S support, normalised through deals like the Abraham Accords, and shielded from accountability on the global stage.

Surveillance and control shape daily life:
from checkpoints to monitoring systems that restrict movement and autonomy.

Military force enforces the status quo:
advanced weaponry and security infrastructures are deployed against civilian populations asserting their rights.

The Palestinian people and the Saharawis both reflect a shared reality of repression, dispossession, and resistance that continues today.

FREE 🇵🇸 FREE 🇪🇭

We’re looking for creatives ready to step beyond the conventional at Desert Voicebox!Sandblast’s Desert Voicebox program...
10/05/2026

We’re looking for creatives ready to step beyond the conventional at Desert Voicebox!

Sandblast’s Desert Voicebox programme in the Saharawi refugee camps is seeking volunteer creative workshop leaders with experience working in unconventional teaching environments. If you’ve led workshops in community spaces, grassroots settings, or places where adaptability and creativity matter most, we would love to hear from you.

This is an opportunity to collaborate, exchange skills, and support youth-led expression in a context shaped by displacement, resilience, and lived history.

We’re particularly interested in practitioners across music, storytelling, digital media, and performance, especially those who can think on their feet and work collaboratively across cultures.

You can read about past Creative Workshops with the link in our bio. Get in touch to learn more and apply! 🇪🇭

We’re looking for innovative creatives who are ready to step beyond the conventional at Desert Voicebox!Sandblast’s Dese...
10/05/2026

We’re looking for innovative creatives who are ready to step beyond the conventional at Desert Voicebox!

Sandblast’s Desert Voicebox programme in the Saharawi refugee camps is seeking volunteer creative workshop leaders with experience working in unconventional teaching environments. If you’ve led workshops in community spaces, grassroots settings, or places where adaptability and creativity matter most, we would love to hear from you.

This is an opportunity to collaborate, exchange skills, and support youth-led expression in a context shaped by displacement, resilience, and lived history.

We’re particularly interested in practitioners across music, storytelling, digital media, and performance, especially those who can think on their feet and work collaboratively across cultures.

You can find out more about this opportunity with the link in our bio! Get in touch to learn more and apply! 🇪🇭

We’re opening two places for an English Teaching Residency with our Desert Voicebox programme in the Saharawi refugee ca...
03/05/2026

We’re opening two places for an English Teaching Residency with our Desert Voicebox programme in the Saharawi refugee camps!

This is a rare opportunity to be part of a pioneering initiative that goes beyond language learning — combining English education, local teacher development, and cultural empowerment. Together, we aim to support Saharawi children in building the skills and confidence to become future cultural ambassadors and advocates for their people.

The role is based onsite in the camps and includes a 12-week residency from late September to mid-December 2026, followed by two short return visits in winter/spring 2027.

We’re looking for educators who are adaptable, collaborative, and motivated to work in a unique and community-driven environment.

Apply or get in touch to find out more! 🇪🇭

This week, the Saharawi refugee camps in southwestern Algeria transform into the only film festival in the world held in...
25/04/2026

This week, the Saharawi refugee camps in southwestern Algeria transform into the only film festival in the world held in a refugee camp.

Running from 27 April to 3 May, FiSahara brings film screenings, roundtables, workshops, music concerts, and many other cultural events to the camps.

The festival draws filmmakers, artists, journalists, and human rights defenders from around the world into the heart of the desert.

Created in 2003, it has grown into a world-renowned forum for cultural exchange, solidarity, and human rights advocacy, and helped give birth to an entirely new cultural expression: Saharawi cinema.

Reshare and repost to celebrate another year of FiSahara! 🇪🇭

Each year, Earth Day gives us a moment to reflect on our shared responsibility to protect people, land, and natural reso...
22/04/2026

Each year, Earth Day gives us a moment to reflect on our shared responsibility to protect people, land, and natural resources.

This year, Sandblast’s map expert, Wendy, has created a striking series of maps exposing resource exploitation across Western Sahara.

We aim to highlight the environmental injustice the Saharawi people face every day, and the gap between global commitments to sustainability and the reality on the ground.

Thank you to for the extensive and detailed reports providing the data used for these maps.

Share and repost - because international complicity continues to sustain the illegal occupation and exploitation of Western Sahara’s resources.

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Western Sahara is back in the spotlight of global diplomacy—but whose interests are really being negotiated?As talks res...
18/04/2026

Western Sahara is back in the spotlight of global diplomacy—but whose interests are really being negotiated?

As talks resume, a deeper question lingers: are these efforts truly centered on the Saharawi people, or shaped by the agendas of those in power?

Sandblast’s team recently visited the Western Sahara Campaign Archives at SOAS University in London.We decided to share ...
09/04/2026

Sandblast’s team recently visited the Western Sahara Campaign Archives at SOAS University in London.

We decided to share some of the most powerful photographs and documents archived from the very beginning of the Saharawi refugee crisis.

What stands out most is sadly how much of the analysis from decades ago continues to apply today. It’s a reminder of how the struggle for Saharawi self-determination has lasted generations at this point, and the calls for decolonisation remain just as urgent today as they were over 50 years ago.

Spain & other Western powers’ complicity in the illegal and ongoing colonisation of Western Sahara, evident in these records, remains just as true today:

“Spain, which has committed an odious crime against the rights of our people, following the repugnant Madrid Accords, is back to prolong the endurance of our people, deepen their suffering, and undermine their sovereignty.”

Decades later, little has shifted. In light of the growing international support for Morocco’s autonomy plan, this statement feels less like a reflection of the past and more like an ongoing reality.

What these archives make clear is not only the longevity of the struggle, but the persistence of political choices that continue to sideline Saharawi self-determination.

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