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The Security Council is set to review a new resolution on the fate of the region on 31 October, amid pressure to reach a solution to end the 50 year conflict. A growing number of African, Arab, and Western nations have tilted towards backing Rabat’s plan for autonomy of the disputed region, under the kingdom’s sovereignty.
Western Sahara independence movement, popularly known as the Polisario Front, demands a referendum to decide autonomy plans proposed by Morocco. Leaders of the front make it clear that if the Sahrawi population validates it in a referendum, that includes independence as one of the options, it is agreeable to the proposal, throwing a catch.
Polisario’s chief diplomat, Mohamed Yeslem Beissat, said it presented an “expanded proposal” to the United Nations recently. This includes three options as provided for by international law: independence, integration, and a pact of free association, which it said could resemble Morocco’s proposal. Beissat said that while the movement was taking a step towards the Moroccans, discussing its autonomy proposal outside the framework of a referendum was not conceivable.
The Security Council is set to review a new resolution on the fate of the region on 31 October, amid pressure to reach a solution to end the 50 year conflict. A growing number of African, Arab, and Western nations have tilted towards backing Rabat’s plan for autonomy of the disputed region, under the kingdom’s sovereignty.
Western Sahara was a Spanish colony until 1975, and has since been largely run by Rabat which considers it an integral part of Morocco. The Algeria-back Polisario Front, which controls land along the territory’s eastern border, believes the Sahrawi people have the right to self-determination.Meanwhile, Belgium has become the latest Western nation to back Morocco’s autonomy plan as a solution for the decades-long dispute over Western Sahara.
A joint Moroccan-Belgian declaration signed in Brussels on Thursday formalized Belgium’s support for the initiative first presented in 2007.Belgium’s minister of foreign affairs, Maxime Prévot said the proposal “envisions that this region would fall within the framework of the Kingdom’s sovereignty and national unity.” Morocco’s foreign minister, Nasser Bourita, welcomed the decision saying it was an acknowledgement of the “realistic and legitimate vision championed” by King Mohammed VI.
The conflict over Western Sahara dates back to 1975. It pits Morocco, which considers the desert territory as its own, against the Algeria-backed Polisario Front, which seeks an independent state there. Belgium’s decision aligns it with stances already taken by the United States, Britain, and several European Union countries.
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Algeria and the Polisario Front have denounced Western nations that back the autonomy plan and insist on holding a referendum on the issue, with independence as an option.The growing support for the Moroccan plan comes as the United Nations seeks a closure to the dispute, which has been ongoing for 50 years.