Tensions Persist in Western Sahara

The ongoing Western Sahara conflict has thrust Sahrawi refugees across northwest Africa. (Flickr)

Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bouorita declared on November 10 that his country is ready to “turn the page definitively” on the ceaseless Western Sahara conflict, while nonetheless refusing to concede its “legitimate rights” over the region, according to Al-Jazeera. However, on October 29, the UN Security Council voted to expand the mandate of the UN Peacekeeping mission in Western Sahara (MINURSO) for another year. 

Since Spain abdicated colonial rule over Western Sahara in 1975, conflict has persisted in the region, which is situated along the northwest coast of Africa and is home to vast oil and phosphate reserves. After a 16-year armed conflict between Morocco and the Polisario Front (a pro-Sahrawi independence movement backed by Algeria) culminated in a 1991 armistice, the territory is still disputed three decades later. Over the past year, “low-intensity hostilities,” as described by the UN, have persisted without end between the two factions. 

Following the 1991 ceasefire, the UN promised a sanctioned peace process that would include a referendum for territorial independence. The Economist writes that Moroccan interference has prevented the vote from happening; as the region’s boundaries stand currently, Morocco controls roughly 80 percent of the territory with Polisario commanding the remaining fifth.

The AP reported that tensions escalated last year after the Polisario group abandoned the 1991 ceasefire, a move rationalized by growing discontent among Sahwari youth who continue to await a UN-sponsored vote over the region’s independence. This move also came in the context of growing hostility between Polisario’s host country, Algeria, and Morocco, with which Algeria broke diplomatic ties in August 2021. Both sides blame one other for the ongoing attacks along the 1,700 mile wall dividing the Polisario and Moroccan claims, and, according to the Economist, Morocco recorded more than 1,000 Polisario-sponsored attacks throughout the past year. 

As Sahrawi refugees in Morocco and Algeria continue to face dire conditions in the refugee camps of each state, the Economist writes that there is growing fear among Polisario leaders that this disillusionment will spiral into radicalization. 

According to Al-Jazeera, the international community has long stood in support of a UN-sanctioned vote to decide the territory’s fate; however, former President Trump’s decision to recognize Morocco’s control over the territory broke from this traditional consensus. And, according to Financial Times, as Morocco continues to augment its military arsenal and rise in international standing relative to Algeria, a country that saw 2019 protests lead to a presidential resignation and that remains preoccupied with a faltering economy, there is no sign in the near future that Morocco’s hold on the region will abate. 

Experts have described the relationship to Financial Times as a “never-ending cold war,” and despite Polisario’s wishes that Algeria recognize the war as an opportunity to reinvigorate their international status, it appears unlikely that the struggling state will take the drastic measures necessary to change the status quo.