WHILE the eyes of the world are fixed upon the genocide in Gaza, the 50th anniversary of another neocolonial conflict has gone relatively unnoticed. In 1975, Morocco annexed the adjacent territory of Western Sahara after Spain announced that it was withdrawing from it after 90 years of colonial rule.

What came to be known as the “Madrid Accords” or “The Declaration of Principles on Western Sahara” was a treaty signed between Spain, Morocco and its south-eastern neighbour, Mauritania, establishing six principles that would end the Spanish presence in the territory and arrange a temporary administration pending a referendum.

The treaty was signed on November 14, six days before the death of Spanish dictator Francisco Franco, contradicting a law on the decolonisation of the Spanish Sahara that was ratified by parliament four days later. It stipulated that the territory would be divided between Mauritania and Morocco and completely ignored the opinions of the people who lived there or their representatives.

Prior to 1975, the future of Western Sahara had been in dispute for years. Both Morocco and Mauritania wanted it under their control, while Spain was keen to create a post-colonial Sahrawi state that would favour its economic and strategic interests. The UN had recognised it as a colony in 1963 and had passed a motion demanding self-determination in accordance with Declaration 1514 of 1960 on the granting of independence to colonial countries and peoples.

The resistance to colonial rule and the desire for independence have been in evidence since Spain claimed a protectorate there in 1884. Both Spanish and French incursions into the territory have been fiercely resisted by the indigenous population throughout, despite the holy city of Semara twice being destroyed by occupying forces in 1913 and 1934.

In 1958, after rebuffing newly independent Morocco’s incursions into the area, the Spanish created the province of Spanish Sahara, which was to become the home of the Spanish Foreign Legion. In 1971, a group of young Sahrawi students began to organise what was formally constituted as the Popular Front for the Liberation of Saguia el-Hamra and Rio de Oro, or Polisario Front, in 1973.

Backed by Algeria, which described Morocco’s annexation of Western Sahara as a “slow, murderous invasion,” the Polisario Front embarked on a guerilla war against the occupiers that lasted from 1975 until 1991, in their quest for an independent Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR). The conflict was a considerable cause of tension between Morocco and Algeria, where tens of thousands of displaced people were given refuge in camps where they remain to this day.

The UN brokered a ceasefire between the warring parties on the premise that there would be a referendum in 1992, but, 33 years on, it has not materialised, largely because the Moroccans would not agree on the eligibility criteria of voters. Mauritania has, however, given up all claims to the disputed region.

Western Sahara is an arid and inhospitable territory that is the second most sparsely populated area in the world. It covers some 105,000 square miles, and its population is estimated to be around 620,000, though it is difficult to obtain a precise figure.

During the 1980s, in order to defend itself from attack and exploit Western Sahara’s rich mineral resources, the Moroccans built the “berm,” a 2,700-kilometre-long sand wall to separate the Polisario-controlled SADR from the rest of Western Sahara and restrict their access to the sea. To strengthen their defences, between five to 10 million land mines have been laid around the wall as a further barrier to Polisario incursions. The Sahrawis living in the nominally independent SADR number no more than 30,000.

For the Moroccan authorities, Western Sahara is an extremely sensitive issue, and they do everything possible to control media coverage of the area. In 2005, demonstrations and riots broke out in the Moroccan-controlled part of the territory as well as in southern Morocco, though there was little coverage in the international press.

In 2016, the then UN secretary-general Ban Ki Moon, declared that Western Sahara is not part of Morocco and described its annexation as an unlawful occupation, to which Morocco retaliated by expelling 70 civilian UN personnel. Five years later, the Moroccans proposed the creation of an autonomous Western Sahara under the ultimate control of the king, a proposal that was rejected by Polisario.

Nevertheless, in 2024, President Emmanuel Macron of France publicly supported the idea, and in June of this year, British Foreign Secretary David Lammy followed suit. Their acquiescence to the proposal risks sending a message to Morocco that they are endorsing the illegal occupation, though British support is conditional on both sides being in agreement.

In a cynical piece of statesmanship, the US recognised Morocco’s claim to sovereignty over Western Sahara in 2020, provided that Rabat normalised ties with Israel, which agreed to also recognise the claim in return for the opening of a Moroccan embassy in Tel Aviv. Nevertheless, Morocco still faces considerable difficulties in asserting its claim. Last year, the European Court of Justice ruled that fishing and farming deals struck between the EU and Morocco in 2019 were invalid due to the lack of consent by the people of Western Sahara.

In addition, Morocco continues to be denounced by human rights organisations concerned by the murder, disappearance and torture of Sahrawis opposed to the occupation of their lands.

Whether or not Western Sahara would be viable as an independent state is open to question, and had Morocco adopted a more conciliatory and diplomatic approach to Polisario and the Sahrawis when Spain withdrew in 1975, the story could have been very different.

In preferring brute force and coercion to dialogue and co-operation, Morocco is directly responsible for the suffering endured by the Sahrawi people, and there can be no solution to the Western Sahara question without the complete involvement and express consent of its inhabitants and representatives. They deserve our support.

For more information, visit www.westernsaharacampaignuk.com.