To Whom It May Concern,
Western Sahara is in conflict for decades over the disputed Northwest African area of around 252,120 square kilometers. But the conflicts between Morocco and the Polisario Front have increased in 2020 with the intervention of the Moroccan army leading to the Guerguerat crisis. The United Nations has recently adopted resolution 2654 (2022) to extend the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara for one year to resolve conflicts by the parties of the Western Sahara conflict, which has already killed 14000 Moroccan soldiers, Mauritanian soldiers, Polisario rebels and civilians and displaced 200000 civilians. Though the step provides mutual opportunities and may help to reduce disputes mutually, it remains unclear whether there will be any acceptable political solution by the parties.
The conflicts, as is pertinent to note, started with the invasion and occupation by the Moroccan and Mauritanian armies when Spain unilaterally withdrew from its colony in 1975 and the Polisario Front’s establishment of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic as an independent state in 1976 has been going on and depended in 2020. But Mauritania signed a peace treaty in 1979 with the Polisario Front, withdrew from occupied Western Sahara and recognized the new republic. According to available sources, Morocco had asserted its control over more than two-thirds of Western Sahara in its western part along the Atlantic Ocean by the time of the cease-fire in 1991. While Morocco now claims the area to be its own, the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic claims it to be its own.
But Morocco’s claim is not recognized internationally. Nor was the Madrid Accords that provided Morocco the authority over a portion of Western Sahara recognized by the 1975 International Court of Justice declaration. Internationally, the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic is rendered as the only legitimate authority over the disputed territory and is recognized by 45 member states of the United Nations. Consequently, providing territorial authority to the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic could have been a more acceptable solution. Yet, the referendum-based solution on the status of the territory, including the options of independence, autonomy, or integration with Morocco proposed by the United Nations in 1991 had the potential to resolve the conflict earlier. But the referendum has not yet taken place.
No doubt, political negotiations involving the parties may also lead to mutually acceptable solutions to the conflict. It is desired that the parties reach acceptable solutions. But the conflict is multi-dimensional and includes disputes over territory and natural resources including offshore oil and gas resources, rich fishing waters and large phosphate reserves. Moreover, earlier extensions did not result in any mutual solution. Consequently, it may be difficult to be hopeful about acceptable political solutions, though some progressions are likely. In this respect, the option for a referendum-based solution needs to be kept on the table too. But challenges to the referendum including the dispute on who to vote need to be addressed.
Amir M Sayem
Chief Editor
Dhaka Opinion Magazine
