Politics

Sáhara Occidental

Jun 27, 2017 Ana Palacio

MADRID – La política internacional abunda en disputas territoriales sin resolver: desde las reivindicaciones de Japón y China sobre las Islas Senkaku/Diaoyu, al prolongado desacuerdo fronterizo entre Armenia y Azerbaiyán por Nagorno-Karabaj. En este ámbito, poca atención se presta al Sáhara Occidental, pese a que se ha abierto un periodo con expectativas claras de avances hacia la consecución de un acuerdo.

Con cerca de 600.000 habitantes y una superficie de 266.000 km2, el Sáhara Occidental —colonia española hasta 1975—, es el más grande de los 17 territorios no autónomos que figuran en el listado de Naciones Unidas (NNUU) cuyo status político definitivo está todavía pendiente. Poca atención internacional se ha proyectado durante las cuatro décadas pasadas sobre esta cuestión que enfrenta a Marruecos, que controla al 80% del territorio, y al grupo independentista Frente Polisario, que controla el 20% restante, fronterizo con Argelia.

El mes pasado viajé a la capital El Aiún —ciudad vibrante, innegablemente interesante, surgida de la antigua cuadrícula española— para examinar la sostenibilidad de las operaciones del Grupo OCP, de cuyo Consejo Asesor Internacional formo parte. El Grupo OCP es el primer productor global de fosfato y sus reservas superan el 70 % de los depósitos mundiales estimados. Lleva a cabo sus operaciones en el territorio a través de su filial Phosboucraa, que representa aproximadamente el 6% de la cifra de negocio del grupo y el 1,6% de sus reservas.

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0 Comments on this paragraph, 6 Comments on this article

ali ahamed Jun 28, 2017

Doctor in international relations
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ali ahamed Jun 28, 2017

This article enter in the branch of lobbying article paid by Moroccan authority by the money of western Sahara phosphates to leverage the international opinion in order to maintain the occupation than to show and to diseque the reality on the ground .
Have Ana pakacio visited the local and autchtone people of western Sahara leaves in poirness situation iconomicalky and face every day repression without any respect of human rights ordinary violation .Have Ana pakacio ask him self where the money of phosphates of boukraa Goe ?
Many question such the respect of international of territory under foreign occupation. The position come of Spain when Ana pakacio and Aznar have been at the last minute been influenced by France and gulf monarchy to change position on wrzyrtn Sahara solution 2004 in SC prevent to implemted directly the Baker plan II.
To work with Moroccan occupation and to stolen phosphates and money of western Sahara people will djuge by history.
No one can prevent western Sahara to be free and sure future soon for that reason tifsy Ana pakacio show his face and soon others plAyers of politicians in Spain and France will fobthe same job .
No one can stop the law. The only for western Sahara people. Law and patience =freedom. Can Ana Placido advice Morocco to respect peace by negotiations? Can Ana stop to visit in Biden or I show the western Sahara until the final solution or she seek only money?
You can be a mercantile person but you can't stop freedom for western Sahara people.
I hope can her to take breath control and read the history of humanity and take a look to western Sahara people situation in refugees campus and in region occupied by Morocco to understand the mainstream of history of this region.
I advice you to take distance and do your business in other part of the world then western Sahara: you loose your time in failed business.
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Moha Ennaji Jun 28, 2017

This is an interesting and objective article. But I wonder why Ana Palacio, who is a respectable international diplomat, does not speak about the Moroccan Sahara knowing that the Hague International Court of Justice had decided in 1975 that The so-called Western Sahara was never an inhabited desert land and has historically been a Moroccan territory and its people have always had allegiance to the Moroccan king. Historically, the Sahara has never been an independent State.
Also the author forgot to mention the various links between the Polisario Front and the Al-Qaeda in the :aghreb terrorist groups, and the danger that they pose to North Africa and Western Europe.
- Katlyn Thomas Jun 29, 2017
  
  As an international lawyer I find Mr. Ennaji's comment illustrative of the distorted view of the conflict over Western Sahara held by some Moroccans and their allies. In fact the International Court of Justice in 1975 held just the OPPOSITE of what he has claimed. It first held, in the Western Sahara Case, that Western Sahara was not terra nulls, or uninhabited, prior to the Spanish colonization, but rather that it was inhabited by nomadic tribes which were socially and politically organized. (paras 81 to 83). After thoroughly analyzing Morocco's claims of "historic ties" to the territory, it found those claims to be "far-flung, spasmodic and often transitory" and concluded that there was a " paucity of evidence of actual display of authority unambiguously relating to Western Sahara" on the part of Morocco, which negated its claim to "effective occupation" of the territory in pre-colonial days. (para 101) It concluded that the material provided by Morocco "does not establish any tie of territorial sovereignty between Western Sahara and [Morocco]."(para 107). Consequently, by a vote of 14 to 2, the Court concluded that the information and evidence before it ". . . did not establish any tie of territorial sovereignty between the territory of Western Sahara and the Kingdom of Morocco . . ." Unfortunately, on the very day the Court's decision was published King Hassan lied to the people, claiming falsely that the Court's decision supported Morocco's claim, and this lie has been perpetrated ever since. Moroccans, you don't have to believe me, READ THE DECISION FOR YOURSELF! It is on the internet.
  
  As far as Ms. Palacio's comments are concerned, it would be laughable how biased and untrue they are if it were not for the fact that comments from so-called "reputable sources" are widely believed by an unsuspecting public. If you really want to know about the issues involved in this dispute, I suggest you read the two reports issued by the Bar Association of the City of New York on the legal issues involved in the conflict: the use of the natural resources of the territory by Morocco and the right to self-determination of the people of the territory. You will soon learn that Morocco is NOT complying with international law in its use of the phosphates, fishery resources or other resources of the territory, and has stifled the attainment of self-determination for the people of Western Sahara.
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j. von Hettlingen Jun 28, 2017

Ana Palacio is seeking to help resolve the long-running territorial dispute between Morocco and the indigenous Saharawi people in Western Sahara, led by the Polisario Front. In view of so many conflicts that dog many parts of the world, this region is hardly on the radar.
Western Sahara is a sparsely-populated area of mostly desert situated on the northwest coast of Africa. A former Spanish colony between 1884 and 1975, a conflict erupted when Morocco annexed the then Spanish Sahara in 1975 after Spain's departure. A 16-year-long insurgency led by Polisario ended with a UN-brokered truce in 1991 and the promise of a referendum on independence. has been delayed for years by rows with Morocco over who would be eligible to vote.
Today Morocco controls about 80%; the Polisario Front holds the remaining 20%, on the border with Algeria, which backed the Polisario's territorial claims in a guerilla war against Morocco. The Saharan Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) declared by the Polisario Front in 1976 is now recognised by many governments and is a full member of the African Union. Home to phosphate reserves and rich fishing grounds off its coast, Western Sahara is also believed to have as yet untapped offshore oil deposits.
The row over the Western Sahara has further strained relations between Algeria and Morocco. The former sees the Polisario as a useful wedge against the latter. Algeria shut its land border with its rival, Morocco in 1994 after Rabat imposed visa regulations on Algerian visitors in the wake of a terrorist attack in Marrakech. The border between the two countries, which runs for about 1,600km, is one of the longest closed frontiers in the world.
Although Algeria backed the Polisario Front in its fight for independence ever since 1975. it is said to oppose autonomy in the Western Sahara, because it fears a precedent which could likely unravel Algerian control over its own restive Berber provinces.
The reason why the Polisario rejected James Baker's 2001 proposal, was that it would have to abandon the long-promised referendum on Western Sahara's future and accept the territory as a part of Morocco, but with considerable autonomy. Another American diplomat, Christopher Ross resigned. The new UN secretary general, Antonio Guterres wants to restart negotiations by appointing former German President Horst Köhler.
While the US sided with Morocco, Polisario is allegedly involved in smuggling schemes, and linked to Al Qaeda in Maghreb (AQIM). Its smugglers also transport African migrants northward toward Europe, and jihadis and weaponry southward from Libya, through Algeria, and across the increasingly unstable Sahel.
The author calls for a solution to the Western Saharan conflict, which will have to involve all parties - "especially Morocco and the Polisario Front, but also neighboring countries, particularly Algeria. In fact, the entire international community has a stake in the success of the UN process." The problem is that Polisario wants total independence, not more autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty. Unfortunately Trump has no appetite to be involved in a country that isn't of economic interest to the US. Budget cut has taken a toll on America's diplomatc prowess. Perhaps the EU can help mediate, because it wants stability in North Africa to stem the flow of migrants to Europe.
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Sidi Omar Jun 27, 2017

As the author recognises, indeed Western Sahara, a Spanish colony until 1975 and now occupied by Morocco, is “the largest of 17 non-self-governing territories listed by the United Nations”. However, this seems to be the only undisputed fact that the whole article contains. For the most part, the author does nothing more than rehash a series of hollow and propagandistic statements, whose source is not hard to identify, perhaps to demonstrate her credentials to serve on the international advisory board of the OCP Group, the main Moroccan owned-corporation involved in plundering the Sahrawi phosphates since 1975.
The author mentions her field visit to the occupied capital of Western Sahara, El Aaiún, (not “Laayoune” as the author in this case seems to prefer the French spelling than the Spanish one!). However, she does not disclose the basis on which she has considered “how well [Phosboucraa’s activities] conform to UN doctrine on natural-resource exploitation in non-self-governing territories – namely, that they benefit the territory and its inhabitants until Western Sahara’s ultimate political status is determined”. Yet it is clear from her narrative that she did not meet any of the indigenous Sahrawis especially the human rights activists and those engaged in campaigning for the protection of the natural resources of the territory. If she had met any of these people and listened to their testimonies, she would have reconsidered her “professional” tone and revealed the reality that her employer, the OCP Group, and the Moroccan authorities have sought to hide. The reality of abject poverty, unemployment, marginalisation, and politically motivated repression against the indigenous Sahrawis who continue to be treated as second citizens in their own country and deprived of their natural resources.
Finally, it is really interesting to see how a person who used to serve as a prominent public servant in a Western democratic country, Spain, is capable of embracing, in an unconvincing and embarrassing way, the discourse of the new employer, which is the despotic regime of Morocco in this case. I am referring to the author’s description of the legal cases brought by the Frente POLISARIO, on behalf of the Sahrawi people, before European and other courts as an “aggressive new campaign against third parties”. In other words, what the author wants us to believe is that using peaceful and legal ways to defend the inalienable right of permanent sovereignty of the Sahrawi people over their natural resources, which is enshrined in UN resolutions, is “objectionable” mainly because it seeks “to hurt Morocco”. Moroccan officials could not have said it better. However, it would have been better for the author to show at least some minimum respect for the basic norms of international law and legality in this particular case instead of having her credibility and professional credentials being compromised in an attempt to please the rulers of one of the remaining vestiges of absolutist monarchies in our modern world.
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