Western Sahara, the only African territory with undefined post-colonial status

Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony, is the only African territory whose post-colonial status has not been resolved. The UN considers it a “Non-Self-Governing Territory”.

Morocco controls 80 per cent of Western Sahara and proposes broad autonomy under its sovereignty. The Frente Polisario, backed by Algeria, calls for a referendum on self-determination.

Algeria summoned its ambassador to Madrid this Saturday to show its discontent at the “sharp turn” taken by Spain in supporting Morocco's position.

- The desert facing the Atlantic -

Western Sahara is a sparsely populated strip of 266,000 km2 on the Atlantic coast bordering Morocco, Mauritania and Algeria. It has about half a million inhabitants.

It has a soil rich in phosphates and a 1,100 km coastline with an abundance of fish.

It was divided from north to south in the 1980s by a 2,700 km “defense wall” —as the Moroccan authorities call it—

Laayoune, in the region administered by Morocco, Dakhla and Esmara are the main cities.

Morocco assures that it is developing the region with significant investments, but Polisario believes that these programs do not benefit the Saharawi population.

Between 100,000 and 200,000 refugees, according to various sources, in the absence of an official census, live in camps near the Algerian city of Tindouf, not far from the Moroccan border.

- War -

In November 1975, a “Green March”, called by King Hassan II, mobilized 350,000 Moroccans to cross the border in the name of “belonging” of this territory to the kingdom.

The following year, an agreement ended Spanish colonization: Spain ceded to Morocco the north and center of the territory and Mauritania regained the south.

The Polisario rejects this agreement and proclaims the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), with the support of Algeria and historic allies, such as Cuba.

In 1979, Morocco took control of almost all of Western Sahara after Mauritania resigned the part granted to it in the 1976 agreement.

Since 1980, Morocco gained advantages in the war, thanks to the “walls” of defense built against the Polisario incursions.

In 1991, a ceasefire entered into force and a zone of détente was defined under the control of the UN Blue Helmets.

The organization of a referendum is constantly postponed due to a dispute between Rabat and the Polisario over the composition of the electoral body and the status of the territory.

In November 2020, the ceasefire was broken with the deployment of Moroccan troops in the southern tip of the territory to displace independentists who were blocking the only route to Mauritania.

- Discussions in deadlock -

The dialogue between Morocco, Polisario, Algeria and Mauritania under the auspices of the United Nations resumed at the end of 2018 in Switzerland, followed by a second round in March 2019, but has since been suspended.

In October 2021, the UN appoints Italian Staffan de Mistura as the new emissary, following the rejection since 2019 of a dozen candidates by Morocco or the Frente Polisario.

- Main dispute between Morocco and Algeria -

The status of Western Sahara constitutes the main dispute between Morocco and Algeria.

At the end of August, Algeria broke its diplomatic relations with Morocco, following “hostile actions” by the kingdom, a decision that Rabat considered “completely unjustified”.

- Conflict between Spain and Morocco -

In April 2021, the hospitalization in Spain of the head of the Frente Polisario, Brahim Ghali, due to covid-19, caused a diplomatic crisis between Madrid and Rabat.

The result was the arrival in May of 10,000 migrants in 48 hours to the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, in northern Morocco, after the Moroccan government relaxed border surveillance.

On Friday, Spain announced its change of stance by supporting the Moroccan autonomy plan.

- Diplomatic representations -

Rabat multiplied actions to consolidate its position, with the opening of consulates or the organization of international events in Western Sahara, provoking protests from the Polisario.

Since the end of 2019, about twenty countries, mainly in Africa, have opened diplomatic representations in Laayoune and Dakhla.

In December 2020, then-US President Donald Trump recognized Rabat's sovereignty over Western Sahara, in exchange for a normalization of Morocco's relations with Israel.

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