Committee of
Foreign Affairs II
Africa’s Last Colony - For several decades now, sovereignty over the Western Sahara territory has been disputed between the Kingdom of Morocco and the Polisario Front. In 2016, the European Union officially declared that the Western Sahara is not a part of Moroccan territory. Since then, no real steps towards a peaceful settlement have been made. What can the international community do to encourage and facilitate a peaceful settlement in the region?
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Introduction
From colony to disputed territory: after 135 years under the rule of foreign powers and the failure of the international community to conclusively solve the issue, the situation in Western Sahara has come to a dead end. After its decolonisation of the region in 1975, Spain invited Morocco and Mauritania to collaborate on a joint administration of the country.
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However, instability soon resurged in the region and a war broke out between Morocco, Mauritania, Spain and the Polisario Front. The Polisario Front, a nationalist independence group representing the indigenous inhabitants of the region, the Sahrawis, proclaimed the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR). Soon after, Mauritania withdrew from the conflict and gave up its ambition to take over part of the country. However, Morocco annexed most of the Western Sahara including its main cities and resources, leaving the rest to the Polisario Front. This resulted in tens of thousands of Sahrawis fleeing their home and gathering in refugee camps in Algeria.
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Meanwhile, the UN recognised the legitimacy of the Polisario Front, stressing the right of Sahrawis to self-determination. However, despite the signing of a cease-fire, Morocco has remained in the occupied territories. Since then, it has demanded that the UN recognise its legitimacy as supported by France and the United States of America. The European Union (EU) does not formally recognise Western Sahara as a Moroccan territory.
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The remaining territories of the Western Sahara have been administered by the Polisario Front, whose government is in exile in Algeria. Nowadays, most African and Arabic countries recognise Moroccan sovereignty over the Western Sahara, but the issue of true ownership remains unsolved.
Western Sahara
The Western Sahara is a non-self-governing territory on the northwest coast of Africa bordered by Morocco, Mauritania, and Algeria. It was previously under Spanish rule from 1884 to 1976. Ever since, most of its territory has been ruled by Morocco and the rest by the Polisario Front, separated by a sand barrier across the desert.
Key terms
Disputed Territory
Territorial disputes occur when official representatives of one country make explicit statements claiming sovereignty over a specific piece of territory that is claimed or administered by another country.
Right to Self-determination
In international law, this right is granted to all peoples and consists of enabling them to choose their own political and economic system as well as their own social and cultural development. The Sahrawi people have been advocating for this right since the decolonisation of the region by Spain, however nothing conclusive has emerged as of yet.
Main conflicts
The first point to be highlighted is the dispute between the Polisario Front and the Kingdom of Morocco, as both sides claim their legitimacy over this area. Morocco has long proclaimed the legal ties of allegiance between the Sultan of Morocco and some of the tribes living in the territory of Western Sahara, an argument which was recently refused by the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
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Although nearly 80% of this territory is covered by the desert, the Western Sahara possesses important phosphate and iron ore. Additionally, the fishing industry is considerable enough to be economically appealing. These areas rich in natural resources are mainly controlled by Morocco. The Polisario Front has only an influence over 20% of the total area of the territory. Nowadays, a sand barrier called the Moroccan Western Sahara wall separates the two parties.
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The United Nations has also played an important role in trying to solve this conflict. In 1991, a United Nations peacekeeping mission intervened after a period of guerrilla warfare dating from 1975 and facilitated the signing of a ceasefire. The following year a scheduled self-determination referendum never occurred due to Moroccan opposition. A few years later, several UN envoys were sent to put forward peaceful solutions to the conflict but no concrete plan emerged.
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In this conflict, the European Union and Spain prefer to focus on the problem of illegal immigration and terrorism while underplaying the importance of the status of Western Sahara. France continues to support the interests of Morocco as a historical ally. As for the US, their strategy seems to contain diverging interests as they have been working closely with both Morocco and Algeria to prevent Islamic terrorist groups from emerging in this area, despite having been a strategic ally of Morocco in recent history and thus supporting the country in claiming its legitimacy over Western Sahara.
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Nowadays, the main issue consists of bringing both Morocco and the Polisario Front to the negotiating table so as to find a common agreement on this conflict
Stakeholders
Morroco
The kingdom of Morocco is a country situated on the West African coast. Its nearest neighbours are Spain to the north, Algeria to the east and Mauritania to the south. Since the decolonisation of the Western Sahara by Spain, Morocco has consistently claimed its legitimacy over this territory, arguing that its historical relationship with the region makes it part of the country.
The Polisario Front
The popular Front for the Liberation of Saguia el-Hamra and Río de Oro is a politico-military organisation mainly consisting of the nomadic indigenous inhabitants of the region of Western Sahara (the Sahrawis). It possesses roughly 20% of the disputed area and seeks to obtain independent control of that region along with the withdrawal of Morocco. It is currently based in Algeria and is supported by the host government.
Algeria
Algeria has been a long-standing supporter of the Polisario Front since its foundation. This is due to the fact that it considers Morocco a rival to weaken and whose influence in this region should be restrained. The creation of an independent state from Morocco in Western Sahara would give Algeria an outlet to the Atlantic Ocean, thus enclosing Morocco. Nevertheless, the Arab Spring appears to have had a positive impact on bilateral relations between these two countries, which could contribute to the peaceful resolution of the Western Sahara conflict.
Measures in place
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After a ceasefire was signed in 1991, the United Nations launched the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara to facilitate the peaceful settlement of the war by setting rules for the constitutional referendum. The UN sent a first envoy who put forward the following plan: the Sarahrawis would be offered autonomy while being integrated into the Moroccan state. Morocco accepted the proposal, but the Polisario Front and Algeria categorically refused it along with the UN Security Council.
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Therefore, a second plan was proposed. It consisted of giving the choice to the people of Western Sahara between independence, autonomy, and complete integration with Morocco. The Polisario Front accepted the plan, unlike Morocco, which was categorically against the idea of including the possibility of total independence. In 2007, Morocco submitted another autonomy plan to partly include Western Sahara in its territory, but the Polisario Front refused it again.
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Several other solutions have been put forward by the UN afterwards, but these agreements have never suited either Morocco or The Polisario Front. Today, meetings are regularly organised to gather both parties around the table, but no significant progress has been made so far.
The United Nations Security Council
Within the United Nations, the Security Council is responsible for the maintenance of international peace and security and is composed of 15 members, 5 of whom are permanent and have the power of veto. In case of threat to peace or act of aggression, it calls upon the parties to a dispute to resolve it peacefully. In some cases, it may impose sanctions or authorise the deployment of armed forces to maintain peace.
The African Union
The African Union is an international organisation comprising 54 African countries. Its original purpose was to rid the continent of the residual effects of colonisation and apartheid. Nowadays, it aims to promote unity and solidarity among African States; to coordinate and intensify cooperation for development; to safeguard the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Member States and to promote international cooperation within the framework of the United Nations.
The European Union
The European Union has no clear and united strategy on the issue of the Western Sahara due to some discrepancies between Member States with diverging opinions and interests. France and Spain openly support Morocco on the grounds of economic and geopolitical interests. Other countries like Germany and Denmark try to remain as neutral as possible to mediate the conflict. As for Sweden, it openly supports the cause of the Sahrawis. All in all, the EU does not recognise Moroccan sovereignty over the Western Sahara but a majority of its Member States support its cause.