The UJSARIO is the youth wing of the Polisario Front, the national liberation movement of the people of Western Sahara. The Polisario Front was founded in 1973 by El Wali Mustapha Sayed and other Sahrawis. Originally founded to fight Spanish colonialism, it has since waged a struggle against occupation by neighbouring Morocco. The UJSARIO emerged in 1984 through the merger of two predecessor organizations, the Sahrawi Students' Union (UESARIO) and the Polisario Front Youth. Its mandate is to bring together the youth in exile and engage them in the national liberation struggle. The UJSARIO is based in the Sahrawi refugee camps near Tindouf in the south of Algeria.