(4 minutes read)
· The UN envoy for the disputed Western Sahara region visited refugee camps in Algeria last Saturday. He is in a renewed bid to find a diplomatic solution to the vexatious problems of the territory
· Morocco had annexed Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony in 1975
· The region is facing decades of diplomatic isolation
The UN envoy for the disputed Western Sahara region visited refugee camps in Algeria last Saturday. He is in a renewed bid to find a diplomatic solution to the vexatious problems of the territory. Morocco had annexed Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony in 1975. The region is facing decades of diplomatic isolation.
People in the region are determined to fight for their independence. They say that the UN has been lying to them for 47 years about their independence, but nothing has been done on the ground, the citizens lament. The UN, they say, is dragging its feet on the demands for the implementation of UN’s resolutions.
There is a war going on between the Sahrawi Republic and the Moroccan occupying state. A peaceful resolution of the conflict requires cessation of the war. That would only help to initiate the peace process. In 2020, the Polisario Front ended a 29-year cease-fire with Morocco. There was a border confrontation with the Moroccan army. The decision to end the cease fire was fuelled by impatience among younger Sahrawi who demanded the long -awaited referendum promised by the UN.
Morocco won a major diplomatic victory in 2020 when then US President Donald Trump recognised Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara. In exchange, the US has extracted from the Kingdom normalization of diplomatic ties with Israel. It may be noted that there are a good number of jews settled in Morocco. The normalization of the relationship enables them to travel to Israel and there are now direct flights between the two countries.
