History of Conflict

In 1884, Colonial rule in Western Sahara began when the territory was declared a Spanish protectorate as a result of the Berlin Conference of 1884 that divided Africa among the European powers. The area came to be known as “Spanish Sahara”.

On December 14, 1960, in Resolution 2072, recalling Resolution 1514 (XV), the UN requested that Spain to take all necessary measures to “ liberate the Spanish Sahara from colonial domination”.13 B   [In the lead-up to that same time period, both Morocco and Mauritania , having been decolonized, laid claim to  Spanish Sahara. 

In the early 1960’s, Morocco encouraged the UN to put Spanish Sahara on the list of territories to be decolonized, and on 20 December 1966, a United Nations General Assembly Resolution (2229[4]) called on Spain to hold a referendum on self-determination in the territory

Between 1966 and 1973, the UN General Assembly adopted seven more resolutions on the territory, all of which affirmed the right of the Sahrawi people to self-determination. Morocco moved to seek an opinion from the International Court of Justice on the status of Spanish Sahara with regard to its status as a former colony properly situated under the control of Morocco.

Between December 1974 and October 1976, the International Court of Justice deliberated. The final ruling by the Court stated that:

The materials and information presented to it [the ICJ] do not establish any tie of territorial sovereignty between the territory of Western Sahara and the Kingdom of Morocco or the Mauritanian entity. Thus the Court has not found legal ties of such a nature as might affect the application of resolution 1514 (XV) in the decolonization of Western Sahara and, in particular, of the principle of self-determination through the free and genuine expression of the will of the peoples of the Territory (ICJ Reports 16 October 1975, 162)

In 1976, Spain terminated its colonial administration of the territory, creating the conditions and structures “on which a common sociopolitical and national Sahrawi entity would be founded”

On February 27, 1976, the Frente Popular para la Liberacio´n de Saguiat El Hamra y de Rio de Oro (Frente POLISARIO) which had been established in 1973 as a liberation movement, proclaimed the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR).

Morocco began fighting directly prior to that proclamation, and has been fighting ever since, to claim its “right” to what subsequently became known as the Western Sahara, land estimated to have been inhabited by Sahrawi people for more than 1,000 years. It conducted the “Green March’ of 350,000 Moroccans to ‘peacefully’ march into the Spanish Sahara in order to reclaim it.

But it was not a peaceful march, as Moroccan soldiers entered the Western Sahara as well and not only attacked Polisario soldiers, but also attacked unarmed civilians committing many atrocities and violations of the Geneva convention. The Moroccan Air Force dropped napalm on fleeing Sahrawi children, women and elderly and Moroccan soldiers buried Sahrawi alive and there are many mass graves that are still being discovered. They even planted landmines at wells and scores of Sahrawi civilians were maimed or killed as a result.

In response to the Green March, the UN Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 380 of 6 November 1975 in which it called upon Morocco ‘to withdraw from the Territory of Western Sahara all the participants in the march’. Morocco built a wall, known as the “Berm”, to claim much of Western Sahara territory. It settled, and continues to settle, Moroccan citizens on Western Saharan lands.

These and other, continuing actions by Morocco have forced the out-migration of Sahrawi peoples to Algeria - where they are granted asylum to reside as refugees in migrant camps - and to many places even farther away from their homeland, including the USA, Canada, Cuba, Spain. Sahrawis who remain in Western Sahara are subject to harassment and intimidation (as seen in the photo, above).

Meanwhile, SADR established embassies in multiple countries, joined the AU, and grew a flourishing community of Sahrawi NGO’s to ensure engagement of Sahrawi peoples in the life and governance of Sahrawi communities within Western Sahara as well as in Algeria and other parts of the Sahrawi diaspora. Further, SADR has continued its quest for self-governance on Western Sahara lands.

United Nations (UN) Secretary General Kofi Annan in 1997 enlisted former United States (USA) Secretary of State James Baker to serve as his personal envoy to Western Sahara. Baker worked for years with all parties to develop and implement a plan under which the SADR would be replaced with a five-year transitional Western Sahara Authority supervised by Morocco while preparations were made to conduct a referendum - on independence - for the Sahrawi people.

Though the plan was endorsed by United Nations (UN) in 2003, Morocco backed away.

Since that time, Morocco has “annexed” Western Sahara, working tirelessly to solicit support for its efforts to “claim” Western Sahara while exploiting the waters and lands of Western Sahara to secure fish, minerals and other natural resources with which to engage in extra-legal trade with international partners.

SADR has challenged this “annexation”, through the European Court of Justice (ECJ)and other options. On 21 December 2016, the ECJ ruled that an agricultural trade agreement between Morocco and the European Union (EU) could not be applied to goods from Western Sahara. On 27 February 2018, the ECJ barred the inclusion of waters off the Western Saharan coast in a EU-Morocco fisheries agreement, further confirming it did not allow the EU to consider Western Sahara as part of Morocco.

SADR is a full member of the African Union. As of November 2020, the SADR was recognized by 85 countries.

However, in November 2020, one country - the United States of America (US) - broke with United Nations (UN) precedent to announce official recognition of Morocco's unilateral annexation of Western Sahara.

In the aftermath of that November 2020 announcement, 45 countries “froze” or "withdrew" recognition of the SADR.

The actions of US citizens - and those who represent them in Congress, in the White House, in the UN, and in embassies around the world - really do matter. 

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:

Oppressive Energopolitics in Africa’s Last Colony: Energy, Subjectivities, and Resistance - Allan - - Antipode - Wiley Online Library

Security Council 2020 Report

Western Sahara: Country Profile (Freedom House)

United Nations

Past Year -

●       Report on MINURSO

●     Letter dated 24 February 2021 from the Permanent Representative of Morocco to the United Nations addressed to the President of the Security Council

●       Letter dated 18 February 2021 from the Permanent Representative of South Africa to the United Nations addressed to the President of the Security Council     

●       Letter dated 19 January 2021 from the Permanent Representative of Morocco to the United Nations addressed to the President of the Security Council

●       Letter dated 11 January 2021 from the Permanent Representative of Saudi Arabia:

“The Supreme Council also reaffirmed its long-standing position and its resolutions in support of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Morocco, and expressed its support for the measures taken by Morocco to establish free movement of civilians and goods in the Guerguarat buffer zone in Moroccan Sahara, and its rejection of any actions or practices that would affect movement in that region.”

●       Letter dated 29 December 2020 from the Permanent Representative of South Africa to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General      

EXPRESSES deep concern over the escalating military tensions between the Kingdom of Morocco and the Sahrawi Republic that have developed in Al-Guerguerat, the narrow Buffer Strip in Western Sahara, leading to the violation of the 1991 Ceasefire Agreement, including the military agreement Number 1, and the unfortunate resumption of war; in this context, CALLS FOR the revitalization of the Troika Mechanism in accordance with the Decision Assembly/AU/Dec. 693 (XXXI), and REQUESTS the Peace and Security Council at Heads of State and Government level, to make the expected contribution of the African Union in support of the efforts of the United Nations and in line with the relevant provisions of its Protocol, to engage the two parties, both of whom are Member States of the AU, to address the unfolding situation in order to prepare conditions for a new cease-fire and to reach a just and durable solution to the conflict, which will provide for the self-determination of the people of Western Sahara in line with the relevant AU-UN decisions and resolutions and the objectives and principles of the Constitutive Act of the African Union; furthermore, FURTHER CALLS on the United Nations Secretary General to appoint a Special Envoy for Western Sahara .

FOR A DETAILED HISTORICAL TIMELINE, REVIEW THESE RESOURCES:

Western Sahara: Historical Timeline 1884–2014

TIMELINE: Western Sahara, a 50-year-old dispute (1884 - 2008)

Other:

Latest developments | Western Sahara | International Court of Justice (icj-cij.org)

Huge marches backing Saltana in Sahrawi Refugee Camps | Sahara Press Service (spsrasd.info)

Source:

https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/what-is-the-western-sahara-conflict-explained/article65513299.ece