The Sahrawi movement for independence represented in the Polisario Front has announced a return to the armed struggle in the Western Sahara. Moroccan occupation forces broke the 1991 ceasefire line on 13 November 2020, prompting the Polisario to declare war. Morocco’s king Mohammed VI is downplaying the incident, relying on European and US backing as he represents their interests in Africa. Morocco occupies around 80% of the Western Sahara and the Polisario-led Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) controls the remainder, though most Sahrawis live as refugees in neighbouring Algeria. SADR president Bharim Ghali announced that Sahrawis have waited enough for the UN and the ‘international community’ to mediate a peaceful solution.
El Guerguerat – the spark that lit the fire
A UN-patrolled ceasefire zone divides the Western Sahara between Morocco and the SADR since the end of the 1975-1991 war (see ‘Western Sahara: an albatross on the African Union’s conscience’ on our website). The ceasefire line was drawn along a 2,700km-long Moroccan fortified sand wall. In 2001, Morocco unilaterally opened a crossing at El Guerguerat, just 11km away from the border with neighbouring Mauritania. This significantly allowed for Spanish fishing fleets to unload their catch from tuna-rich Western Saharan waters in a Mauritanian port just across the border, and then trucks would transport it to European markets. The fishing would be done with Morocco’s consent and regulations, without consulting the Sahrawi people. The same road is the only working land route between Morocco and the rest of Africa, given that its border with Algeria was shut by the latter as part of their decades-long rivalry.
From mid-October, a group of around 60 Sahrawi civilian protesters blocked the crossing, staying within a demilitarised buffer area. The protesters acted to bring attention to their cause. Having effectively disrupted economic activity in the occupied territory, Moroccan soldiers and gendarmes crossed the ceasefire line, and stormed the protesters’ camp to evict them. The Moroccan state had already been preparing to invade the 11km strip between it and Mauritania to pave the road, which it has has now started doing. Seeing the violation of the ceasefire, the army of the SADR intervened, shooting back at Moroccan troops and bringing the protesters to safety.
As we go to press, Morocco is also extending its fortifications to cover the newly occupied territory. The Sahrawi army started launching artillery and missile attacks on 13 November and have sustained them. The SADR defence ministry claims to have killed at least four Moroccan soldiers and a UAE drone specialist – Morocco also counts on the Gulf monarchies and Israel for support. Morocco has fired missiles onto the Sahrawi army, but the latter are very mobile and haven’t reported any dead. Mohammed VI has denied any casualties, saying there is no war – business as usual means that Morocco can freely exploit the occupied territory. The Sahrawis, on the other hand, see that the years of relying on the ‘international community’ has given Morocco breathing space to consolidate their grip on the territory and recover from their previous war. Today’s Polisario say that peace will come when the liberation of the Western Sahara is complete, and that they are better prepared to fight than in the past.
Out of patience
Many presume King Mohammed VI planned to take advantage of the uncertain transition period in the US to push the limits. Yet it is possible that he didn’t expect any consequences. Morocco has stalled any efforts for a peaceful solution and plundered the occupied territory virtually without any repercussions for almost 30 years. Few diplomatic and legal battles have been won by the Polisario. In 2017, the European Court of Justice ruled that no trade agreements with Morocco could include the Western Sahara, but the EU parliament went ahead approving deals that did precisely that.
A whole generation of Sahrawis has been born either as second-class citizens under Moroccan occupation or in refugee camps around Tindouf, Algeria. As soon as word spread of the incident at El Guerguerat, the youths in the camps rushed to volunteer in the SADR’s army. In the occupied territory, young Sahrawis erupted in protest, facing brutal crackdowns by the Moroccan police and army. There are reports of Sahrawi men, women and teenagers tortured by Moroccan state forces, as it attempts to keep a façade of peace. Sahrawis see that, at the very least, a war can disrupt economic activity in the occupied territory, exhaust the Moroccan state and bring international attention.
Western Sahara open for business, Morocco pays the bill
The Western Sahara is mostly desert and sparsely populated with at most 700,000 inhabitants. Yet it has the world’s largest phosphate reserves – used for fertilizers – alongside important concentrations of tuna fish off the coast. In recent years, there has been the emergence of renewable energy production and greenhouse agriculture. European companies are looking for profitable ways to extract oil. Nevertheless, human life and economic activity as it stands would be untenable were it not for Moroccan subsidies and a zero-corporate-tax policy. In 2011, a US leaked diplomatic cable revealed $800 million in aid was spent just to support life, when 1% of Moroccans live in the occupied Sahara. Add the burdensome cost of the military deployment, including the wall that is said to cost $1 million a day.
The occupation may not be economically profitable, but the EU and the US are reassured that strategic resources are held by a safe pair of hands – an independent Western Sahara would most likely be part of an anti-imperialist alliance. Further, the legitimacy of the Moroccan monarchy rests on the pretence that it is taking back land lost to colonial powers, while simultaneously defending the interests of imperialism across Africa. Mohammed VI’s father King Hassan II prevented his own downfall by attempting to press medieval claims on the Western Sahara, Mauritania, and Algeria.
Despite the economic potential of the Western Sahara, there are doubts it will ever be of any economic benefit for Morocco. Some businessmen, most notably King Mohammed VI himself, are making profits but at the expense of the state treasury. A renewal of the armed struggle could turn out to be the straw that breaks the camel’s back.
Elias Haddad
