Much of the territory remains as no mans land (Image: Getty)
With Morocco and Algeria ballooning their military budgets in anticipation of an all-out war, one area remains as “ last colony”, leaving a black hole in global data.
Western Sahara is effectively no mans land. It often appears un-labelled on . Moreover, GDP, global population, C02 production per capita and net migration are all incalculable because of its highly complex, ongoing conflict.
On some maps you may see a conspicuous dotted line marking its border with . This is because its name, Western Sahara has been lumped with more of a geographic expression than a country name, in an effort to avoid addressing the ongoing territorial dispute, the single largest in Africa.
Western Sahara, which is about size of is currently under the defacto control of Morocco.
:
There have been demonstrations in Madrid in support of Western Sahara’s self-determination (Image: Getty)
The other 20 perc cent is under control of organisation known as the Polisario Front (PF), made up of Western Sahara’s indigenous communities. The PF rejects Morocco and sees it as illegal occupation, as did an International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruling.
The 80 per cent of the West of the region now controlled by Morocco and the 20 per cent controlled by the PF are separated by a massive sand wall known as “The Berm” which contains millions of landmines and is dotted with Moroccan outposts.
However, decades of history brought us to this hostile reality. When Africa was carved up in the late 1800s Western Sahara came under Spanish colonial control and was known as Spanish Sahara.
Later, France acquired a protectorate over most of the region. But when France was putting down a revolt in Algeria in 1954, Morocco decided to seize all remaining Spanish land.
Come 1963, the conservative Moroccan monarchy decided to it needed to quell the growing socialist sentiments of Algeria and enforce its borders – launching the Sand War. By 1972 with Algeria and Morocco having settled their dispute, what was then the Spanish Sahara was still controlled by Madrid. But, pressure was mounting for Spain to give it up.
The PF are forced to enter their 20% of land through Mauritania (Image: Getty)
Don’t miss…
In 1973 the PF was founded and it launched a wave of insurgency against the Spanish colonisers until they left. However, the PF having gained control of much of the land, had perturbed Morocco, who took its argument to the ICJ. The court ruled its indigenous people were entitled to self determination.
The ICJ enraged the Moroccan monarchy to the extent King Hassan II called for troops to march into Spanish Shara. In 1975 350,000 unarmed Moroccans launched what was known as the Green March. Spain decided to withdraw from colony and entered negotiations drawing up the Madrid accords.
Sain agreed to withdraw and partition the land between Mauritania and Morocco. So, the PF shifted its war against Morocco and Mauritania and Algeria threw its full support behind the militants.
In 1976 the PF proclaimed the existence of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) prompting Morocco to construct the Berm in 1981 which was finished, fit with millions of landmines by 1987.
The PF were pushed into Sahawari refugee camps whilst Morocco’s ensuing occupation of the region showed a flagrant disregard for the ICJ ruling. The African Union chose to recognise the SADR meaning Morocco became first and only African country to withdraw from the union.
After tens of thousands died, Morocco and the PF agreed on ceasefire in 90s meaning the UN was allowed to deploy peacekeeping mission to Western Sahara in 1991. However, it is the only peacekeeping mission which does not have permission to monitor human rights – which has created the data black hole.
Morocco agreed with the UN in 1991 to hold referendum – but this has never happened as Morocco insist on its hundreds of thousands of settlers having the right to vote, which would ensure a Moroccan victory, and the PF only want indigenous peoples to be able to vote.
To further complicate matters, The US and have made their support for Morocco’s occupation of the land clear, supplying weapons and funds.
This has prompted a billion-dollar arms race between Algeria, who have backed and sheltered the PF for decades. It has become somewhat of a proxy race, with Algeria backed by and Morocco funded by the US.
Much of this may be due to rich offshore natural gas reserves and the fact the land is viewed as a vital strategic crossroads for oil to reach Europe.
As Europe strives to find new gas reserves after ’s invasion of , more and more countries, such as France, have folded to recognise Morocco’s occupation of the region.
It is also rich in phosphorites- a critical ingredient for modern agriculture. The Bou Craa mine has the potential to allow Morocco to eclipse China and become the largest phosphate producer in the world. Morocco signed agreement wit Israeli company to search for offshore gas in Western Sahara.
In November 2020 Moroccan troops entered Guerguerat – near the defacto line of control – which the PF declared a violation of the ceasefire – so it renewed its attack and war returned.
A month later, formally recognised the Moroccan occupation leading to do the same. Morocco has increased its military spending to $13.4 bn in 2024 buying rocket systems and long range missiles, fighter jets and drones. As tension continue to rise between Algeria and Morocco, now only 46 UN member states recognise the SADR.