[News] Direct from Western Sahara: learn about the struggle of the last colony in Africa

[Anti-Imperialist News]

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<https://peoplesdispatch.org/2023/01/17/direct-from-western-sahara-learn-about-the-struggle-of-the-last-colony-in-africa/>
Direct from Western Sahara: learn about the struggle of the last colony in
Africa
Michele de Mello - January 17, 2023
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[image: image.png]

16th Saharawi Congress in the Dajla refugee camp in the city of Tindouf,
Algeria. Photo: Michele de Mello / Brasil de Fato

In the middle of the Sahara desert, half a million people resist and fight
for their liberation. Under the slogan “intensify the armed struggle to
expel the invader and build sovereignty,” the Polisario Front, the
political organization that leads the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic
(SADR), is holding its 16th Congress in Dajla – one of five Sahrawi refugee
camps in the town of Tindouf, Algeria. After 30 years of ceasefire, this is
the first Congress to be held again in the context of armed confrontation
with Morocco.

“All the human, financial, and material resources are sent to support the
combat on the armed front. Before they were directed to other areas that
will continue, but we must focus on the battlefield,” SADR’s Prime Minister
Bucharaya Beyun declared.

The Sahrawi Republic was founded in 1975, after gaining its independence
from Spain. After expelling the Spanish, the Sahrawi people began to fight
against the invasion of Morocco, which sought to annex their territory of
about 266,000 km² in North Africa, rich in phosphate and with a vast
coastline facing the Atlantic.

Defeated in the war, in 1991, Morocco signed a ceasefire agreement with the
Sahrawis, foreseeing the holding of a popular referendum, mediated by the
United Nations (UN), which would seal Western Sahara’s independence. At the
time, 2,500 Moroccan soldiers who had been captured by the Sahrawi People’s
Liberation Army (SPLA) were handed over. In return, the kingdom of Rabat
was supposed to release about 600 Sahrawi prisoners, but only handed over
200 people.

Since then, the Polisario Front leaders have opted for diplomatic means to
regain control of their territory. In addition to putting the brakes on a
decades-long promised referendum on the territory’s independence, in
November 2020, Morocco violated the ceasefire and bombed the Sahrawi people
in the region known as the “Guerguerat rift,” a gateway between the Sahara
desert and the Atlantic.
*Congress*

Between January 13 and 17, 2,000 delegates from all the refugee camps and
occupied Sahrawi territory met to elect the next president, the secretary
general of the Polisario Front, and to define the political tactics for the
next three years of armed struggle.
2,000 delegates are responsible for electing a new government for the
Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic and the next leaders of the Polisario
Front. Photo: Michele de Mello / Brasil de Fato

Tata Salek is one of the elected delegates of the Polisario Front to
participate in the Congress. Born in one of the refugee camps, at the age
of 20, this is the first time she has participated in the main political
event of the Sahrawi people. “We young people feel very proud to
participate, to support our people and to have the opportunity to be more
prepared for the debate. I want to continue participating and I hope that
we can hold the next congress in our land,” says Tata.

In addition to the delegates, the Congress received more than 300
international visitors, representing allied countries and solidarity
associations. The first two days are open to greetings from international
guests, while the last days are closed to delegates. The entire event,
however, is broadcast live to all refugee camps by Arasdtb TV, the Sahrawi
state channel.

“We are in times of war, so the Congress is more focused on the armed
struggle. It’s been over 40 years of debating political exits that have led
nowhere. So women, men and young people alike have the same idea of taking
up arms again to liberate our territory,” argues Tata Salek.
Tata Salek, a young Saharawi of 20 years old, was elected a delegate and is
participating for the first time in the Congress of the Polisario Front.
Photo: Michele de Mello / Brasil de Fato

For her, the central role of women and youth will be the communicational
battle.

“Diplomacy, led by men before the war, will now be a central task of women.
On social media and in international travel. Even though women can also
fight, our cause does not prevent women from participating in the fight,
but now we are focused on the communicational fight, in making our cause
visible in other countries,” says the young Sahrawi woman.
*History*

With one of the longest conflicts for independence in history, Western
Sahara covers a desert territory of 266,000 km² in North Africa, bordering
the Atlantic Ocean, Morocco, Algeria, and Mauritania. The Sahrawi people
represent a population of about 600,000, of which 260,000 are in the
refugee camps in Algeria, about 200,000 in the liberated territory, and
another 100,000 in exile. Western Sahara has the largest phosphate deposits
in the world, in addition to copper, uranium, and iron reserves.

Spain took possession of the territory in 1885, and in 1950 the Sahara lost
its colonial character and became Spain’s 53rd province. Since 1963,
Western Sahara has become one of the 17 non-self-governing territories
recognized by the UN — and the most populous of them. The list includes
places such as the Falkland Islands, Bermuda, Gibraltar, and the Cayman
Islands.

Only in 1975 did Spain sign the agreement granting independence to Western
Sahara, making it considered the last colony on the African continent. The
initial agreement was to respect the borders inherited from the colonial
period, but interest in the phosphate reserves and the seafood-rich coast
with access to the Canary and Celtic Islands caused the Spanish government
to violate the pact.
At the entrance of Dajla’s camp, SPLA soldiers do security control. Photo:
Michele de Mello / Brasil de Fato

At that time, the Spanish government signed the Madrid Agreement, handing
over the northern part of the Western Sahara territory to Morocco and the
southern part to Mauritania.

In October 1975, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that there
was no legal basis for the annexation of Western Sahara by Morocco and
Mauritania, who had initially brought the case
<https://www.icj-cij.org/public/files/case-related/61/9472.pdf> before the
Court in the Hague.

Faced with defeat in the courts, King Hassan II of Morocco began the Green
March on Western Sahara, sending 350,000 civilians and military personnel
to invade and colonize Saharan territory.

In 1979, Mauritania withdrew from the conflict after being defeated by the
Liberation Army of the Polisario Front.

About 10,000 people died in the 16 years of war until the signing of the
ceasefire agreement on September 6, 1991. One of the agreed terms was to
hold a referendum on the independence of the territory, which was never
actually held.

In 1991, the UN created the Peace Mission for the Sahara (MINUSRO), which
would be responsible for calling for the plebiscite on the
self-determination of the Sahrawi people. When the census was completed for
the vote, Morocco demanded that the entire population living in Western
Sahara, including Moroccan settlers, be allowed to vote, while the
Polisario Front only maintained that only those inhabitants counted in the
1974 census, before the Green March, be allowed to vote.

Since the ceasefire agreement, two-thirds of the territory, including most
of the Atlantic coast, has been controlled by the Moroccan kingdom, with
tacit support from France, the United States, and Israel.

In November 2020, with the unilateral breaking of the ceasefire by the
Moroccan side, the SPLA declared a state of war and began to strike back
with bombardments on the walls erected by Morocco.
The Congress of the Polisario Front is broadcast on local television.
Photo: Michele de Mello / Brasil de Fato *Polisario Front*

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Saguía el Hamra and Rio del Oro
(Polisario – *Frente Popular de Liberación de Saguía el Hamra y Río de Oro*)
was created in 1973, inspired by the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM). The goal
was to unify Saharawi political movements and parties into a single
political instrument around the struggle for independence from Spain.

The structure encompassed the National Union of Saharawi Women (UNMS), the
League for the Protection of Sahrawi Political Prisoners in Moroccan
Prisons (LPPS), a youth front, and the Sahrawi Popular Liberation Army.
Proclaiming the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic on February 27, 1976, the
Front installed a government-in-exile in the city of Tindouf, Algeria.

Already in the first ten years after the end of the colony, SADR gained the
formal recognition of 46 states and its membership in the African Union was
approved.

“The Polisario Front tried to create a state in an abnormal situation and
succeeded. Our government has diplomatic relations, several ministries,
contact with other countries, and this is our path. The difference is that
now we need to put more efforts on the military front,” defends Prime
Minister Beyun.
*Relationship with Brazil*

Today 82 countries recognize the independence of Western Sahara. In Latin
America, the first country to establish diplomatic relations with the
Sahrawi Arab Republic was Panama, back in 1978. Only Brazil, Argentina and
Chile maintain a neutral position. The other states recognize the right of
the Sahrawi people over their territory.
In the middle of the Sahara desert, the Sahrawi people constitute their
Wilayas (states) with their houses and shops. Photo: Michele de Mello /
Brasil de Fato

In 2022, with the rise of progressive governments, Peru and Colombia
resumed diplomatic relations, while Bolivia has promised to open a Sahrawi
embassy in La Paz this year.

“Our strategy is to continue the [military] combat and, in parallel, to
advance in the diplomatic strategy, seeking more recognition. With regards
to domestic politics, we want to strengthen education, work with women and
youth. We want to win on all fronts, not only in combat. We want to
guarantee a dignified life for our people,” concluded the Sahrawi premier.

Brazil maintains a position of neutrality regarding the diplomatic status
of the Sahrawi Republic. “We hope that Lula, who knows the Sahrawi cause,
will be on our side, that Brazil will recognize the Sahrawi Arab Republic
and we hope to open an embassy in Brasilia,” said the Polisario Front
representative for Brazil, Ahmed Mulay Ali Hamadi.

*This piece was first published by *Brasil de Fato
<https://www.brasildefato.com.br/2023/01/16/direto-do-saara-ocidental-conheca-a-luta-da-ultima-colonia-da-africa>*
in Portuguese.*
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