Ist sentence of paragraph two should have read “Western Sahara used to be Spanish Sahara (a colonial “possession” of Spain). In 1975-1976 the Spanish left and the Moroccans moved in, although no-one except Morocco recognised WESTERN SAHARA [not Morocco] as a legitimate Moroccan possession.”

Oops.

Western Sahara used to be Spanish Sahara (a colonial “possession” of Spain). In 1975-1976 the Spanish left and the Moroccans moved in, although no-one except Morocco recognised Morocco as a legitimate Moroccan possession. The Polisario Front, an independence movement that had been fighting the Spanish, then took to fighting the Moroccans and the Mauritanians (who had invaded along with Morocco in an attempt to carve up the territory of Western Sahara). Polisario saw off the Mauritanians, but Morocco was a more difficult enemy. IN 1991 the UN brokered a ceasefire between Morocco and the Polisario with the promise of a referendum on “self-determination, This referendum never happened, as Morocco and the Polisario couldn’t agree on who should be eligible to vote. The ceasefire left Western Sahara partitioned between a Moroccan-occupied zone (in which you’ve been travelling and which makes up most - around two thirds - of the territory) and a Polisario-controlled zone to the east and south of the Moroccan-held areas. Today there are an estimated 200,000 Moroccan settlers and 160,000 Moroccan troops in the country, and some 90,000 indigenous Sahrawi people, who often get treated badly by the Moroccan authorities. There are a further 160,000 Sahrawi living in exile in camps in the Algerian desert, who can move into the Polisario controlled zone (where there are very few resources and which can’t support may people, especially in dry years).

Western Sahara is technically a “disputed, non-self governing territory” whose status is yet to be determined. Talks between Morocco and the Polisario are ongoing, but have got nowhere. Morocco is offering what it calls “autonomy”, which would secure Moroccan “sovereignty” over Western Sahara in exchange for a limited amount of “self governance”. Morocco (erroneously) refers to the Polisario-controlled zone as a “buffer zone” or “demilitarized zone” and what would happen to this region (which is under the [pretty firm control of the Polisario) is never discussed. Morocco will not entertain the notion of a referendum on full independence, and the Polisario so far have refused to endorse a referendum that doesn’t include the option of independence. Ergo stalemate.It looks as if Western Sahara will continue to be a partitioned, disputed territory for the foreseeable future, divided into a Moroccan-controlled and a Polisario-controlled zone.

More on my blog (Sand and Dust), from the perspective of a foreigner (me, as a Brit) working on and off in the Polisario-controlled areas.

Happy wanderings guys.

Western Sahara is a non-self governing territory that has been occupied/controlled/colonized by Morocco since the end of the 1970’s. Before that it was colonized by Spain for almost 100 years, although Spain did not reach full control over the territory until 1934 when Spain, together with French forces, destroyed the city of Smara.

Of course Morocco claims that Western Sahara is Moroccan, but the Moroccan claims were rejected by the International Court of Justice already in 1975, and nothing has changed in that matter since.

Western Sahara is a territory that is on the UN list of colonized areas. Its population has therefore a right to self-determination in order to decide their future on their own. Without Moroccan, US, Spanish or French interference.