Opinion

Tension in the Sahara

photo_camera Sáhara

The Spanish government continues to maintain a historic position of supposed neutrality regarding the situation in Western Sahara. This should be the most appropriate attitude from a diplomatic point of view and in line with the United Nations' criteria because Spain still has some legal responsibility for a territory occupied by Morocco with the Green March.  

For several years the Polisario Front, which is defending the independence of this region and calling for a referendum to be held as a political solution to the conflict, fought a war, with Algeria's support, against the Moroccan army. A ceasefire was signed in 1991, and since then MINURSO, a United Nations mission with a special representative of the Secretary -General, has attempted to carry out its mission with scant results. At present, the Special Envoy post has been vacant for several months.   

Several weeks ago a certain tension erupted again as the border crossing at El Guerguerat, in south-western Western Sahara, was cut off on the Mauritanian side by some twenty demonstrators who blocked some 200 Moroccan trucks using the road that climbs up the Mauritanian and West African coast, some 38 km north of Nouakchott. This road, which is used by Morocco for trade with sub-Saharan Africa, had already been the subject of controversy for years. Last Friday, units of the Moroccan army entered this demilitarised strip of land south of the Sahara to break the traffic blockade imposed by these Polisario Front demonstrators.  

On the ground, we are witnessing a localised confrontation which has resulted in no injuries or serious damage for the time being, but led to the umpteenth reiteration of the Polisario Front's threat to resume the war. Nobody believes this option is possible at a time when the way is becoming increasingly clear for a broad autonomy for Western Sahara under Moroccan sovereignty, following the subsequent negotiation and agreement with Algeria. Of course, the thousands of Saharawis who have been living in very precarious conditions in the camps for years have much to say, yet the reality of recent times is causing weariness among the vast majority of these people, including the creation of a political movement, Saharawis for Peace, as an alternative to the discredited Polisario Front and its well-off leaders, and the growing recruitment of young Saharawis by terrorist groups operating in the Sahel region. The new political situation in Algeria, the scourge of the coronavirus pandemic, the pressure from the major countries involved and the new United Nations resolution point to a possible solution.