Beautiful Western Sahara
My first attention was drawn to this place when working on a group work in my part 2 in the university, and a lot of amazing things we can learn from this place.
Fast Fact
Western Sahara is a disputed territory found in the Maghreb region of northern Africa. A low, flat desert bounded by the Atlantic to the west, Algeria to the east, Morocco to the north and Mauritania to the south. It occupies a total area of 102,703 square miles, and has a population of nearly 600,000. Its largest city is EL Aaiun, its monetary unit is Tala, and languages spoken are: standard Arabic, Hassaniya, Arabic and Moroccan Arabic. It has 6 airports, sea-ports and harbours. Business goes on as usual such that as at 2007, it was estimated to have a GDP of $906.5 million. You may agree with me that such is a characteristic of a state. However Western Sahara is not considered a State. Why?
Note that for the sake of this write up, ‘state’ refers to an organized community living under a single political structure and government, sovereign or constituent.
Historical event
Decades after the Green March, the dispute file of the Western Sahara remains open at the U.N. Different lingering disputes over the years continue to represent one of the main, if not the main threat to the stability of the north African region, causing serious rift in the diplomatic relations between morocco, Algeria and spain. For over 14 years, the united nations have tried to put an end to these disputes by proffering lasting solutions. But their efforts have proved abortive over the years. It can be said without mincing words that the political future of the area is inherently dependent on the resolution of this low-intensity but persistent dispute.
In 1976, spain withdrew leaving the forces of Rabat and Nouakchott in Morocco to deal with the newly established resistance of the Saharawi nationalist movement, led by Frente Polisario, which was known as the polisario front. Then these men were few in number, but badly armed. Then later in that year, the polisarios proclaimed the birth of the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR).
Citizens trying to send message of their situation
Sovereignty
Because sovereignty, according to “Understanding Politics” by Chris Ojukwu, relates to the “attributes of supreme authority of a state over the territory and people under its jurisdiction, and exercising absolute and unrestricted power that it stands above all others in a society”, and the government of the SADR have an unresolved dispute over sovereignty, it cannot be called a state. After Spain left in 1976, Morocco proceeded to occupy two-third of the territory and eventually laid claim to the rest in 1979 after the withdrawal of Mauritania. As expected there was war and conflict that resulted in the loss of lives and properties. 1991 saw a cease-fire and the establishment of a UN peacekeeping operation. The UN tried to resolve the issue through diplomatic means by offering the people of Western Sahara a choice between independence and an integration into Morocco, with the former being what the polisario wants. Despite this, morocco still maintains a heavy security presence in the territory.
Territory
About 80% of the western Sahara territory is under the Moroccan government, leaving about 20% under the control of SADR, and this relatively small land area is called free zone. This free zone has a relatively small population of about 30,000. The Moroccan government built a 2,700 km long defensive sand berm around 1980 to 1987 and running the length of the territory, and separates the opposition.
So if the SADR cannot control a large percentage of its territory, it is not fit to be called a state!
The UN does not recognize it as a sovereign state and as such listed it on the UN list of non-self-governing territories.
Economy
The Moroccan government controls the economy and is a key source of employment, infrastructural development and social spending. As expected, exploitation of natural resources like crude oil, remains a contentious issue due to the unresolved legal status of the region.
On the communication aspect too, the SADR has a sparse and limited telephone system, with its country code (-212) tied into Morocco’s system by microwave radio relay technology, tropospheric scatter, and satellite.
Human Rights
The long conflict has resulted in severe human rights violation that has majorly results in the displacement of tens of thousands of Saharawi civilians from their so called country. Due to the measure of support the Polisarios have from the Algerian government, thousands of Moroccans were expelled from Algeria by the Algerian government. During and after the conflict, both parties accuse each other of human rights violation and abuse.
A typical example is when youth were kidnapped in refugee camps and sent to Castro’s island of youth, where they are inundated with anti-western teachings. This was done primarily to Armstrong their families and coerce their loyalty to the Polisarios cause.
Image Source
Conclusion
Despite the effort of the SADR to demonstrate that it is a state like any other, with institutions, flag, diplomats, etc., the action of the Morocco government makes it practically impossible.
The future of the conflict is uncertain. Morocco has failed in its attempt to convince the international community that the only solution is to recognize the current status quo. The status quo, as the Polisario has managed to show, is that of dispute, conflict and contending projects. It is, in other words, that of an unfinished decolonization process.
If you find this interesting please let me know by dropping your comments!
Material is original, but content was researched with the help of wikipedia