Located between Morocco and Mauritania, Western Sahara is the last African territory whose post-colonial status has not yet been ‘settled’. At the end of 2020, Trump recognised Morocco’s sovereignty over Western Sahara, after Mohamed VI – the king of Morocco – had recognised the state of Israel. Since then, Spain and Germany have followed suit, followed in July 2024 by France under Macron, leading to a diplomatic conflict with Algeria.
The origins of the conflict
Up until 1975, the Sahrawi territory was a Spanish colony. After the death of the dictator Franco, Spain withdrew, with no clear status for the territory. The Sahrawi territory is, however, very rich. The world’s largest phosphate mine is there, there is gold, and its sand has been traded. It is also an important fishing ground. The kingdom of Morocco lays claim to the Western Sahara.
Nearly fifty years ago, Hassan II, then king of Morocco, launched in November 1975 the ‘Green March’, which was supposed to free Western Sahara from Spain. Capitalizing on the desire of young people in Morocco to build a country independent from the imperialists, the king effectively imposed his domination over the Western Sahara by invading it. The Moroccan Left, which was highly critical of the government at the time, did not understand the Saharawi national question, often mistakenly regarding it as secondary. Subsequently a war between the Polisario Front (formed in 1973 to fight for an independent Sahrawi republic) and the Kingdom of Morocco continued until 1991, during which chemical weapons and anti-personnel mines were used. Separation walls pushed the border further and further south and east. Now the Kingdom of Morocco controls 80% of the territory.
Since 2007, Mohamed VI has been proposing an autonomy plan under his sovereignty, while the Polisario independentists, supported by Algeria, have been demanding a referendum on self-determination in accordance with the UN ceasefire signed in 1991, but which has never materialised. France has regularly been using a technical veto to block a vote at the UN assembly.
International situation
The implementation of Morocco’s plan now seems to be the imperialists’ response. Macron’s visit to Morocco in early November confirmed this. Putin’s Russia has fallen into line and did not invite the Polisario, a member of the African Union, to its Russia-Africa conference. China, for its part, has a trade agreement with Morocco on electric cars.
The Saharawis are not allowed to say a single word to say about all of this. A number of them live under a militarised police regime in the parts of Western Sahara occupied by the Moroccan army, while the others in the refugee camps live in misery in Tindouf, Algeria. For some time now, armed conflict has been flaring up again. UN aid has been halted, complicating life in the middle of the Algerian desert. A new war in the region would be tragic for the civilian populations on both sides.
An independent response from workers and the poor masses is needed!
The Saharawis have the right to choose whether they wish to live with Morocco or separately. Defending the right to self-determination is a question that concerns all the workers and poor masses of the region. And it will not be achieved thanks to the UN nor thanks to Mohamed VI’s Morocco nor Tebboune’s Algeria. It can only be achieved by a conscious alliance of the workers and peoples of the region, fighting for their rights against all the imperialists, but also against their own capitalist governments.
