Western Sahara: Contested Desert Land

The disputed Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony, has long been a bone of contention on the international stage

Rabat, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 29th Sep, 2021 ) :The disputed Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony, has long been a bone of contention on the international stage.

In the latest twist, the European Union's top court on Wednesday cancelled two trade deals with Morocco after a case brought by the Algeria-backed Polisario Front movement, which seeks independence for the territory.

Morocco, which controls 80 percent of Western Sahara, has offered autonomy but maintains the territory is a sovereign part of the kingdom.

- Desert and ocean - Western Sahara sits on the western edge of the vast desert, stretching along about 1,000 kilometres (620 miles) of Atlantic coastline.

Its inhospitable terrain supports only around 650,000 people.

As Spain withdrew in 1975, its northern neighbour Morocco moved in, claiming the territory as part of its kingdom.

But it was opposed by the Polisario Front, which took up arms to fight for independence, with the International Court of Justice ruling in favour of self-determination.

In November 1975, 350,000 Moroccans took part in the so-called Green March to the border, to press the kingdom's claim on the territory's large reserves of phosphate and rich offshore fisheries.

The following year, the Polisario Front proclaimed the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), with the support of allies including Cuba and neighbouring Algeria, its most important backer.

- Sand wall - The Polisario initially gained the upper hand, before being pushed back into the interior.

During the 1980s, Morocco built a sand wall to keep Polisario fighters out of territory it controlled.

The outermost defensive line runs for 2,700 kilometres, ringing the part of Western Sahara now under Moroccan control.

It is fortified with barbed wire and trenches, and is one of the world's largest minefields.

The SADR is a member of the African Union, but controls less than 20 percent of the territory, mostly empty desert.

- Troubled region - The United Nations has failed to find a lasting settlement since it brokered a ceasefire on the line of control in 1991.

A referendum it organised over Western Sahara's future in 1992 was aborted as both parties objected to who was eligible to vote.

Since 2007, Rabat has refused any referendum and has offered only autonomy instead of independence.

- Morocco-Algeria tensions - The conflict has long poisoned Morocco's relations with neighbouring Algeria.

Their border has been closed since 1994, and between 100,000 and 200,000 Sahrawi refugees live in camps around the Algerian desert town of Tindouf.

In August, Algeria severed diplomatic relations with Morocco, accusing Rabat of "hostile actions".

On September 22, Algiers closed its airspace to Moroccan planes.

- Talks fail - Relaunched in late 2018 after a long break, United Nations-brokered talks between Morocco, the Polisario Front, Algeria and Mauritania have been deadlocked since the 2019 resignation of the UN's Western Sahara representative.

In September 2021, Morocco said it had agreed to the nomination of former UN Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura to the post.

UN reports have highlighted human rights violations committed by Morocco in the territory and a deterioration of conditions in the Tindouf camps.

- Migrant pressure on Spain - In April, Polisario leader Brahim Ghali went to Spain, reportedly for treatment for Covid-19, a move Madrid says was made on humanitarian grounds but which prompted a diplomatic crisis between Morocco and Spain.

In May, between 8,000 and 10,000 migrants crossed into Spain's North African enclave of Ceuta from Morocco, in what some have seen as a ploy by Rabat to put pressure on Madrid.

- Diplomacy - Some 20 countries have opened diplomatic offices in the Moroccan-held cities of Laayoune and Dakhla.

In December last year, the US recognised Moroccan sovereignty over the Western Sahara as part of a normalisation deal between Rabat and Israel.