Algeria and morocco in the western sahara conflict by michael jacobs a thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of masters of arts department of government and international affairs college of arts and sciences university of south florida major professor. Madrid capitulated to morocco, an act that prompted algeria to throw its weight behind polisario. A little known conflict has been going on in the small north african country of western sahara. Conflict place should be shared to the both countries equally. Yet an examination of the war for western sahara its origins, its evolution, and its nonconclusionis an important first step toward an understanding of the broader conflict.
The conflict over western sahara between the kingdom of morocco and the polisario front, which represents the people of western sahara, has been on the agenda of the united nations security council for close to 19 years, since june 1991, when the council took up the issue and established. Historically, the eus engagement in the western sahara conflict has been modest at best. Pdf the western sahara conflict, loselose scenarios, and. Moroccan planes bombard sahrawi civilians fleeing the conflict with napalm and cluster bombs. The right to selfdetermination as a peremptory norm in international law 1 2. Only in a few humid months per year the intense of rain is a bit higher.
The conflict is dominated by unarmed civil campaigns of the polisario front and their selfproclaimed sadr state to gain fully recognized independence for moroccan southern provinces or what is called western sahara. Chapter i provides background information on the western sahara. The right to selfdetermination as a fundamental human right 2 3. The african unions role in western saharas claim of. Yet an examination of the war for western saharaits origins, its evolution, and its nonconclusionis an important first step toward an understanding of the broader conflict. From geography, european colonialism, and the polisario front, this video takes an indepth look at how exactly modern western sahara came to be.
Selfdetermination, occupation and the authority to. Zoubir introduction in dealing with protracted conflict, the main challenge stems from. Pdf the western sahara conflict between the kingdom of morocco and the polisario front is locked in a seemingly irreconcilable stalemate. Peaceful solution to western sahara conflict possible. At the same time, these walls served to enclose all of the major population centers of the western sahara and the territorys rich phosphate deposits. Spain commences its colonisation of the western sahara. At the regional level, the western sahara dispute then became one side of an interlocking conflict between morocco and algeria, which had origins in a brief border war in 1963. An unending conflict of morocco and western sahara. This was a report summarizing the reports that had been submitted by the secretary.
The impact of the western sahara conflict ukessays. Phosphate purchases from western sahara background incitec pivot limited ipl operates four fertiliser plants in australia. An end to the impasse requires the security council to make a choice. Its people have been unable to realize their right of selfdetermination since the former colonial power, spain, ceded the territory to mauritania and morocco in 1975. The sahrawi arab democratic republic sadr is proclaimed by the polisario front in bir lehlu, western sahara. The conflict in western sahara is one of africas most long. The polisario front, who represent western sahara s native sahrawi people, is supported by neighbouring algeria.
Western sahara is the last colonial territory in africa. Based on the authors multiple trips to the moroccan. Important to note is that the western sahara conflict was already in place during the cold war period. What are some solutions to the conflict of western sahara. Peace is the only solution in this world to solve all the problems amicably. Morocco sahara conflict wall street international magazine. The western sahara conflict is both one of the worlds oldest and one of its most neglected. In essence, the issue of western sahara seems to be a simple case of self. Pdf the western sahara conflict, loselose scenarios. Human rights in western sahara and in the tindouf refugee. Franck, the stealing of the sahara, 70 american journal of international law 694, 1976.
As of june 2015, there are 117,638 people that have displaced by the situation, with. Acts and documents relating to judgments and advisory opinions given by the court pleadings, oral arguments and. This war between the sahrawi indigenous polisario front and morocco has resulted in thousands of. Files are available under licenses specified on their description page. Feb 08, 2018 western sahara is in a complicated situation. Secretary general ban kimoon to refugee camps for people displaced by the western sahara conflict has stirred up tensions in the 40year dispute. A member of minursos military liaison office chats with a group of local western saharans, june 2010. Hassan ii launched a green march of 350,000 unarmed civilians into western sahara in 1975 ibid. The moroccan annexation of western sahara in 1975 led to protracted conflict that continued until 1991 when a ceasefire was agreed. Resolving the western sahara conflict would help untangle the main existing deadlocks in north africa and the sahel.
Several mediators have been employed over the duration of this effort, with the most important being former u. Western saharan refugees in the tindouf area of southern algeria. Western sahara qfiles the online library of knowledge. The unresolved western sahara conflict and its repercussions the unresolved western sahara conflict and its repercussions article pdf available june 2010 with 214 reads how we. Implementing the policy finally, after submitting a restatement of its of three presidents ambassador edward m. Gibson island, brisbane, manufactures ammonia, urea and granular sulphate of ammonia. Perhaps more serious is the fact that the badly governed area covering western sahara, northern mauritania and south west algeria is becoming a zone. The conflict originated from an insurgency by the polisario front against spanish colonial forces from 1973 to 1975 and the subsequent western sahara war against morocco between 1975 and 1991. Mar 03, 2017 morocco has announced the withdrawal of its forces from a u. The western sahara conflict is an ongoing conflict between the polisario front and the kingdom of morocco. Summaries western sahara international court of justice. The reference mechanism enables national courts to question the court of justice on the interpretation or validity of eu law.
Depending on the season, the average daytime temperatures range between 22 and 31 degrees. In cooperation with the sadr sahrawi arab democratic republic, and with the support of the frente polisario, we surveyed the unoccupied zone of western sahara, which until late 1991 was inaccessible as a result of the conflict. It is mostly desert and the ancestral home of nomadic tribes. The dynamics of the entire phosphate market, then, could be shaped significantly by the conflict in western sahara. Moroccos ambassador says the polisario front is standing in the way of a political solution to the conflict. A history of the western sahara conflict pambazuka news. The western sahara conflict the web site cannot be found. Pdf on jul 1, 2015, emmanuel mordi and others published the western sahara conflict.
List of united nations resolutions concerning western sahara. Collection of advisory opinions 19231930 series ab. The territory is contested by morocco and the polisario front. The case of the united nations efforts to mediate an end to the seemingly intractable conflict in the western. The conflict in western sahara how does law protect in war.
The western sahara has been a point of conflict for regional actors, international organizations and great powers, all of which have conflicting positions on western sahara s claim of independence. According to boukhars 20, this conflict between morocco. Nations peacekeeping mission in western sahara, is established under the united nations security council resolution 690 as part of the settlement plan, which had paved way for a ceasefire in the conflict between morocco and the polisario front over the contested territory of western sahara. The case of the united nations efforts to mediate an end to the seemingly intractable conflict in the western sahara is particularly instructive. People of both country should be given equal rights to g. Western sahara territory and refugee camps located near tindouf, algeria, since the conflict in 1975. From 19 to 21 july, parties to the western sahara conflict met for the eighth round of informal talks, discussing two proposals although not agreeing on the issue of the electoral corps, mechanisms for selfdetermination, and the forms of guarantees. Bolton is known for supporting a selfdetermination referendum for western sahara, as advocated by polisario and algeria, and years ago called for a withdrawal of minurso as a way to pressure morocco and polisario to work out a deal on the final status of western sahara. Pdf the unresolved western sahara conflict and its. Unhcr stands ready to promptly resume family visits between the territory and the camps, after almost four years of suspension.
All structured data from the file and property namespaces is available under the creative commons cc0 license. Its goals are to help prevent and resolve violent international conflicts, promote post conflict stability and. So it is much drier and warmer than in the most parts of the us or central europe. Morocco and some of the tribes living in the territory of western sahara as might affect the application of resolution 1514xv on the decolonisation of western sahara and, in particular, of the principle of selfdetermination through the free and genuine expression of the will of the peoples of the territory. Western sahara conflict chronology spanish colonisation 1884 at the berlin conference the european powers divide up the african continent. Using the case of the western sahara conflict, the paper examines the. Western sahara is a sparselypopulated area of mostly desert situated on the northwest coast of africa. United nations mission for the referendum in western sahara. Jun 19, 2016 the moroccan sahara conflict is an ongoing conflict between the kingdom of morocco and polisario front. Zoubir and daniel volman eds, international dimensions of the western sahara conflict, westport, praeger, 1993. The political status of western sahara is an important issue because it highlights the. Tifariti journal fighting is long over, but western sahara still lacks peace. Importance of the topic the right to selfdetermination.
The selfdetermination discourse, as outlined in the united nations documents. Beginning in 1979, the organization of african unity oau sought a resolution of the western sahara conflict and called for a ceasefire and a referendum to provide the right of self. Areeja syed, ahmed bux jamali the conflict in western sahara between the kingdom of morocco and the frente polisario has lasted for over three decades, and continues to pose a potential danger for stability and security in the entire region of north africa. The fourapproach dilemma of the western sahara conflict mohammed cherkaoui 74,000 sahrawis who were listed on the spanish census of 1974, and insisted on adding up to 120,000 moroccans to the list.
France renews its support for moroccos autonomy plan. Morocco is committed to resolving the western sahara. Since algeria and morocco were two protagonists in the western sahara conflict, algeria opted for the eastern block where it became an ally of moscow in the region. Western saharas conflict tomatoes highlight a forgotten occupation. Call on the au summit, in accordance with its responsibilities enshrined in the constitutive act to ensure that the western sahara conflict be made a standing item on the agenda of the au summit at.
The roots of a desert war, westport, lawrence hill, 1983. Nov 29, 2015 this page was last edited on 19 march 2017, at 17. Morocco was pro western powers since it was a key ally of france and us. The united nations and western sahara united states institute of. The eu, civil society and conflict transformation in. The presumptive maritime or ocean jurisdiction of an independent western sahara, formally known as the saharawi arab. The western sahara conflict has outlasted the 197591 war between morocco and the western saharan independence movement, led by the frente polisario.
A former spanish colony, it was annexed by morocco in 1975. Western sahara, known as spanish sahara when it was a colony of spain, is a territory roughly the size of colorado situated between morocco to the north, mauritania to the south, and algeria to the east. Algeria and the western sahara dispute the maghreb center. Apr 14, 2020 sahara conflict history the polisario front, created in 1973, was named polisario, or the liberation front of essaquia al hamra and oued eddahab. Conflict resolution in western sahara african journals online. Information from its description page there is shown below.
Emphasize on the centrality of the au to the resolution of the conflict over the western sahara. This article offers arguments that explain the western sahara conflict. The purpose of investigating the conflict over the western sahara is to trace and analyze its impact upon the political stability of the northwest region of the african continent. In 1975, spain relinquished its hold in the western sahara. The climate in western sahara the climate in western sahara is subtropical. Collection of judgments, orders and advisory opinions from 1931 series c. The fourapproach dilemma of the western sahara conflict. Morocco, on the other hand, is willing only to grant autonomy, the power for the region to rule itself, while remaining part of its territory. The question of sovereignty in the western sahara conflict. Phosphate hill manufactures ammonium phosphates in north queensland with phosphate rock sourced from a nearby mine held by ipl. Chapter ii discusses the international political developments affecting the western sahara.
The unresolved western sahara conflict and its repercussions the unresolved western sahara conflict and its repercussions article pdf available june 2010 with 214 reads how we measure reads. Chapter iii discusses the positions of morocco, the. The history of the western sahara a timeline the sovereignty of the western sahara remains the subject of a dispute between morocco and the polisario front, a separatist group based in southern algeria. Mission for the referendum in western sahara in western sahara at the end of april, there has been. More than 30 years after the war began, the displacement of large numbers of people and a ceasefire in 1991 that froze military positions, its end remains remote. A ceremony, chaired by the oic head of minurso, force commander majorgeneral ziaurrehman toke place in the parade ground of the mission hq, in laayoune western sahara. The cost of the conflict crisis group middle eastnorth africa report n65, 11 june 2007 page ii integration, low foreign investment and slower rates of growth. Moroccos control of the last colony in africa is at the centre of campaigners legal challenge to the. The legal issues involved in the western sahara dispute.
The right of selfdetermination versus territorial integrity 3 4. The conflict emerged in 1975, at the height of the cold war, when morocco was. Human rights in western sahara and in the tindouf refugee camps. The right to selfdetermination and the uti possidetis iuris principle 4 5. Three days later, morocco invaded, and has occupied the territory since then.
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