The Moroccan Sahara issue is settled historically, socially and legally
On June 14 2022, your newspaper published an article entitled “Explained | The Western Sahara dispute and why Algeria-Spain ties have soured” which we consider to be lacking credibility and accuracy about the history of the Sahara. The article was based on a unilateral opinion about the Moroccan Sahara issue without taking into consideration the views of Morocco concerning the issues it raised.
At the outset, I would like to say that the Moroccan Sahara is as sensitive as any territorial issue for any other country. Therefore, in the context of the right of reply, we would like to state, in the beginning, that the Moroccan Sahara issue is settled historically, socially and legally. There are hundreds of documents that serve as evidence about the legitimacy of the allegiance of the tribes of the Sahara to the Moroccan Monarchy, which was transmitted by the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice in 1975.
These documents include correspondences, epithelia of appointment of judges and assignments directed to the Sahara tribes, as there are more than 12 international conventions concluded by Morocco before the French Protectorate or Spanish colonization with Britain, the United States, France and Spain, under which most of these countries recognize the Moroccan-ness of the Sahara, thus including the Sahara in the implementation of agreements between Morocco and these countries.
By vocation, these fallacies hinder the understanding of the truth about this conflict and the adoption of a sound, productive and positive position to solve it. Although the historical realities of this conflict are known to all, it is important to re-establish truths, enlighten your respected readers with historical facts and get a clear picture of the reality on the ground.
1. Your article portrays the Moroccan Sahara issue under a negative prospective despite the important socio-economic development that the whole region is undergoing. It is devoid of true historical background while dismissing voluntarily important and crucial facts. It also shifts to defame Morocco and its Sahara, with a manifest discrepancy between the title and the article itself.
2. Although its title suggests that it would answer the question of the deterioration of Spain-Algeria relations, the article buries the causes of this deterioration and merely lists the decisions taken by the Algerian authorities. By doing so, the author avoids revealing that Algeria is a main player in the artificial conflict of the Moroccan Sahara, and without whose involvement and active support this issue would have never existed.
3. Contrary to what was claimed in the article about “the Sahrawi ethno fighting for its right of self-determination” and that “Morocco impedes the organization of the referendum”, the United Nations announced the impossibility of holding the referendum because the polisario claims wrongly that it represents the entire population of the region.
4. At the international level, the polisario has never been recognized as a liberation movement, let alone of claiming to be the only legitimate representative of the Sahrawis. In fact, the artificial Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic is neither recognized by the UN not the Arab League. India too has withdrawn official recognition. The polisario does not have the legitimacy to speak on behalf and represent all Sahrawis, given that there have never been transparent and democratic elections since its creation. So how could a leadership that has been stagnant for more than four decades pretend to represent legitimately the population of the other Moroccans living in the Southern provinces enjoying all their rights as Moroccans? Even the claimed membership of the polisario in the African Union which the opponents of Morocco’s territorial integrity use to prove the legitimacy of the separatist movement is actually against the charters of the African Union itself and the UN and has no legal basis.
5. Your article claims the existence of "refugee camps" in Algeria that are managed by the polisario and have 200,000 people. The WFP used to give assistance and aid to the population on the basis of 90,000, while Morocco believes that the population in the camps wouldn’t exceed 40,000. Algeria and Polisario have always refused to conduct a census despite numerous calls by the UNSC.
6. According to the author, Algeria is home to “a Government in exile”. This is a serious allegation as only a small portion of the Saharawi population lives, against their will, in the camps in Tindouf without any right. These camps are the theater of documented cases of slavery, torture, repression of the freedom of expression and dissent opinions as well as detention and deprivation from the freedom of movement by the polisario. Besides the flourishing of all kinds of drug and human trafficking, children are also indoctrinated and trained as armed guerrillasat an early age instead of being given appropriate education at schools. There are many documents and reports corroborating this.
7. As for the Moroccan-ness of the Sahara, it has been long established that this region was taken over in the 19th century by the Spanish colonial power. The Kingdom of Morocco holds a unique position in the history of colonization, as well as in the decolonization processes. In 1956, Morocco started to recover its territorial integrity gradually and through negotiated international agreements. In 1958, Morocco signed an agreement with Spain by which the city of Tarfayawas retroceded to Morocco, followed by the 1969 Agreement that consecrated the return of Sidi Ifni, Madrid Accords of 1975 that marked the end of Spanish presence in the Sahara, and finally, the reintegration of all Saharan provinces into Morocco as of 1979.
8. All these agreements were negotiated by Morocco and Spain following recommendations by the United Nations. Madrid Accords were concluded on 14th November 1975 by Spain, Morocco and Mauritania following the advisory opinion issued by the International Court of Justice on 16th October 1975 and the launching by Late His Majesty Hassan II, on 6 November 1975, of a peaceful "Green March" to show the determination of the Moroccan people to complete peacefully the territorial integrity of the country. The polisario did not exist during the Spanish colonial period. Morocco was the only country to claim the territory, at the international level (UN) as far back as early 1960’s when it registered it in the UN Decolonization (Fourth) Committee.
9. The data in the article wrongly reports that “Moroccan troops have built a huge sand wall called the ‘Berm’ (the construction of which started in 1981), from the Atlantic coast of Western Sahara to the mountains of Morocco, dividing the territories they control from that of the polisario. The Berm is a buffer zone lined with land mines”. This piece of information is contrary to the documented historical facts. This wall was built for purely defensive purposes to protect the inhabitants of the Moroccan Sahara and avoid the incursion of the armed guerrillas to the Moroccan territory and their killings and kidnappings of the population helped by the Algerian army. A report by the Secretary-General of the United Nations in October 20, 1988 described it as “the defensive sandstone wall”. The UN adopted the wall as a line defining the military exclusion zone, which was included in the military agreement of 1988, as part of the settlement proposals that were adopted by the Security Council in its resolution, after its acceptance by the parties, on August 30, 1988. These proposals were presented in the Secretary-General’s report, on June 18, 1990, and were then approved by the Security Council under resolution number 658, issued on June 17, 1990, making the region east of the wall under the responsibility of the United Nations.
10. The article also alleges that Moroccan Sahara is subject to alleged human rights violations by "Moroccan troops". This is an absurd untruth. Following the liberation of El Guergarate, the polisario separatists were quick to declare the end of the ceasefire and "the resumption of armed fight". It was a fictional announcement made in November 2020, and sustained by the polisario, depicting a Sahara on fire and blood and counting record losses on the Moroccan side and illusory bombing in all the Southern Provinces of Morocco. This is a mere propaganda strategy that has only strengthened the Moroccan position and its proposal of autonomy, as the only viable solution to an artificial dispute nourished by the apparatchiks of polisario and their sponsors of Algeria.
11. The article accuses Morocco of trigging a migratory blackmail, claiming that the Kingdom reduced border controls to put pressure on Spain. This is a ridiculous falsification of facts and history. The absolute truth is that in the fight against illegal migration, Morocco's record is distinguished and well-known. In fact, the Kingdom is a champion in this field and a key responsible actor that aborts most of the attempts of illegal immigration into Europe.
In conclusion, the article included false judgments and misleading opinions lacking in accuracy, and contrary to the reality of the long-lasting conflict, which finds its roots, and causes of survival in the Algerian position of rejecting the notion of the territorial integrity of Morocco.
The insistence of Algeria to keep this issue going on indefinitely, by taking hostage part of the Saharawi population in the camps and maneuvering by all means, supporting militarily and diplomatically the polisario in an attempt to deprive Morocco from its Sahara, has proved to be in vain.
The truth and reality is that there’s an upsurge in support for the Moroccan autonomy plan. Many countries from different parts of the world have opened Consulates in Morocco’s southern provinces in Dakhla and Laayoune. This dynamic on the ground strengthens the autonomy plan as being the only realistic, practical and lasting political solution to this regional dispute. It also reflects total support for Morocco’s unity and its territorial integrity, of which the Kingdom has never put on table for negotiations. The reaction of Algeria to Spain’s change of position and support of this political solution has unveiled the reality that the Sahara issue is a bilateral issue between Morocco and Algeria and that the polisario is a group hijacked by Algeria to serve as a tool to hem in Morocco.
I thank you
Press Department
Embassy of the Kingdom of Morocco
New Delhi
