Our long international nightmare is over. A week ago today the Together Foundation started to collapse when two members of its Board of Advisors disappeared from their website. Later that day, they were all gone. Now Together Foundation says it's not even sure there is slavery.I talked to Philippe Elghouayel of the Together Foundation (and formerly the United Nations Development Program and MINURSO) Wednesday and asked him what happened to his board of advisors: "You scared them off." He claims a certain director of the Maghreb Center knew he was on the board of advisors and anything he says to the contrary is just blustering.
Also interesting, Philippe said the Together Foundation is working with Polisario to go to the camps and check out slavery claims because even the Together Foundation now doubts Fallshaw and Ayala. From the website:
Together Foundation had a meeting with a senior official of Frente Polisario in New York. It was a constructive discussion which concluded in the agreement in principle that the Foundation will put together a media team to visit the Tindouf refugee camps. Polisario will host the team and let them explore the camps freely and come up with their independent findings and conclusions. Watch for furnther information on the developments.If you're interested, shoot him a line and maybe they'll save you a space in a Jeep.
High-fives for those who contacted the Together Foundation and Philippe and uncovered information. Especial love to Alle at Western Sahara Info for finding the MINURSO connection, Chasli for numerous scoops including the original board of advisors emigration, the Australian Western Sahara Association for slavery information, Khatry at Western Sahara Online for finding stuff, and the whole mess of you crazy kids who like to find stuff out about Western Sahara (and also destroy scurrilous foundations). Next stop: MACP!
This still leaves the more important issue of slavery in the camps unresolved. I've been in touch with Violeta Ayala and I'll let you know how that develops. If you find anything out or find particularly damning evidence either way, share it in the comments or by email!
Speaking of AWSA, they sent me this koala picture. They're one organization nice enough to keep me well-stocked with pleasing images of sweet animals. Step your game up, ARSO!