Sahrawi Student Unions in Spain and Algeria: Transnational Political Participation from Mukhayyam to the World

This article examines the political participation of Sahrawi refugee youth, focusing on their engagement with UESARIO (Union of Students of al-Sāqiyah al-Ḥamrāʾ and Río de Oro), through Spanish (LEJSEE) and Algerian (LESAL) national branches. The transnational educational model developed by SADR since the 1970s, alongside the temporality of exile, marked multiple flows to/from mukhayyam (refugee camps), mobility experiences and future perspectives, prompting the creation of UESARIO. As such, the Union plays a pivotal role in the nation-building process and the liberation struggle among students and youth abroad.Based on long-term ethnographic research in Extremadura (Spain) and Algiers (Algeria), this article analyzes how students navigate almost fifty years of exile, highlighting how their study contexts shape their contributions to the Sahrawi cause, as well as how they negotiate individual aspirations within collective responsibilities to the national liberation struggle.