Western Sahara and the Sahel: Sovereignty and Self-determination are the Key

The issue of Western Sahara, according to the international law, is an issue of decolonization and not a problem of “territorial integrity”.

 Since 1961, the United Nations has considered Western Sahara to be a “Non-self-governing territory” governed by the right to self-determination law in accordance with Article 73 of the United Nations Charter4 and Resolution 1514 of the General Assembly. 5 Since 1972, the United Nations, in its Recommendation 29836/A/RES, it respected the right of the people of Spanish Sahara/Western Sahara to self-determination and independence. Today, Western Sahara is still registered among the “non-self-governing territories” awaiting decolonization.

The opinion of the International Court of Justice does not consider that the issue is a problem related to the territorial integrity of Morocco, but rather an issue of decolonization. In its opinion of 16 October 1975, the International Court of Justice rejected Moroccan and Mauritanian claims regarding allegations of sovereignty before the Spanish colonization in 1884, where the court concluded that Western Sahara was not (TERRA NULLIUS) because it Spain entered into an agreement with the free and independent tribes of the territory to be present there in late 19th century.

The European Court of Justice has also confirmed that Western Sahara is not part of Morocco and that there are no ties between the people of Western Sahara and that of the Moroccan kingdom. Ot also confirmed that Europe has no right in exploiting the natural resources with out the consent and the consultation of the people of Western Sahara and its legal representative the POISARIO Front.

The dilemma of resolving the Western Sahara issue does not lie in the disagreement over the voting regulations nor in the absence of negotiation. The only reason that obstructs the solution is that Morocco and its allies are deterring the achievement of international cooperation by illegally annexing the Western Sahara to Morocco. This violates the entire United Nations Charter and empties the UN mission “MINURSO” of any content, and for that reason it does not need  any more negotiations and no participation by the Polisario Front or  even Algeria as an observer.

It is not true that the referendum is no longer applicable in the Western Sahara because of the disagreement over who should vote, but rather because Morocco and its allies want to change Resolution 1541 to their own advantage whereby eliminating the option of independence. The inapplicability of the referendum is due to disagreements over who votes is a big fat lie. Morocco accepted the United Nations identification process in the year 2000 to elect an executive government for self-rule within a plan for “self-rule” known as the “framework agreement” or the “Baker 1 plan.” “. In addition, in the Baker II plan, which was accepted by the Polisario, the settler residing in the territory can vote in the final referendum. Therefore, the dispute over voter regulations is not a problem. The problem is that Morocco and its allies want to rule out the option of independence from any rounds of referendums or negotiations, which is what conflicts with the criteria of Resolution 1541, which includes the option of independence.

The Sahara is no longer a synonymous of that arid region as enormous discoveries have been made in those territories of the Sahara and the Sahel. The Sahel region has become rich in energy materials, from oil to gas and uranium, and thus, the whole region has become a new arena for strategic, political and economic competition, arousing the ambitions of various undesiring powers. In positioning in the region, strategies of surrounding and counter-surrounding would help determine the geopolitical stakes.

The Sahel region is of great importance, as it is distinguished by its important location, as it connects North and Central Africa, represents a clear strip from the Red Sea to the Atlantic Ocean, and controls the continent’s trade routes, in addition to its natural and mineral resources.

There are enormous natural resources in the region, such as diamonds and copper, as well as uranium and cobalt, which are used in heavy and large industries. There is a huge reserve of gold, iron, zinc and marble, which some countries have not yet benefited from, such as Chad. The iron reserve in Mauritania is estimated at: 100 million tons.  There is also a huge deposit of copper, and the reserve is estimated at 27.3 million tons of high-quality. As for  uranium reserve in Niger, it is estimated at 280 thousand tons. The African Sahel region also enjoys great water reserve. For example, the Niger River is the third longest river in Africa after the Nile and the Congo, as it is It is about 4,160 km2 and its area exceeds 2 million square km. There is also the Senegal River, the sixth in length and the fifth in area.

 Moreover, the Sahel countries have economic resources of a strategic nature, such as oil and natural gas, especially in Sudan and Chad, which have huge oil reserves. There are also contemporary studies and reports that prove that the world’s energy future lies in this region, especially with regard to solar energy, since this region benefit from the sun all year long.

The European-French interest in the region explains its pivotal overlap with North and West Africa all the way up to the Red Sea, and the stability of the coast and the Sahara now means the stability of French and European interests represented in energy sources and uranium:  Mauritania represents a significant reserve of iron that is important for the steel industry in Europe, and Niger comes second in the production of uranium with a percentage of 8.7% of global production and so it is covering 12% of the European Union’s needs, in addition to the important stock of oil that remains largely to be exploited especially that the Middle East courtiers will run out of oil in the near future and will not be able to compete with African oil and gaz production.

The current unrest, which began in Mali, then Burkina Faso, and continues in Niger and Nigeria, is related to tribal organizations, organized crime, and international and regional interventions. Every time a militia appears, its goal is either to seize power in the country, occupy its own region, or cooperate with a foreign power in order to form an organization on which there is a bet that it can work against another party inside the country if necessary! As previously mentioned, this increases the complexity of the scene due to the multiplicity of movements , the abundance of weapons, and the abundance of false targets.

Although China usually does not deploy militarily but rather commercially, the United States has established a new military command for Africa (AFRICOM). This was of great benefit, as the phenomenon of violence and terrorism grew and spread across the Sahel countries and beyond and around them as there has been much talk about the Russian presence in the Sahel countries. In practice, with the exception of Mauritania, the national armies in the Sahel countries are no longer what they were. The armies formed by the French, the British, and finally the Americans were weakened by coups, tribal and ethnic factionalism. Therefore, militias are created by, alongside or against the army, by other tribes or ethnicities to defend their own interests.

Lately, observers have witnessed an increasing Moroccan interest in the Sahel and  the Sahara region, within the framework of the Kingdom of Morocco’s adoption of a foreign policy aimed at strengthening its role in the African continent in general, and the Sahel and Sahara region in particular. One of the indicators is Morocco’s invitation to the foreign ministers of the countries of the Sahel and Sahara region (Mali – Chad – Niger – Burkina Faso) on December 23rd, 2023, and organizing a high-level ministerial meeting with the participation of the foreign ministers of these countries.

There is no doubt that the current Moroccan movements in the Sahel and Sahara region aim to persuade the positions of these countries to support the Moroccan proposal to settle the existing dispute over the Western Sahara. Employing the Moroccan economic approach would change the neutral position adopted by a country like Mali towards The Sahara issue. The State of Niger has not yet opened a consulate in the Moroccan Sahara region, despite its support for the Moroccan position in this regard. This contrasts with both Burkina Faso and Chad, which opened their consulates in the city of Dakhla in Western Sahara. What confirms this is that the Moroccan initiative to facilitate these countries’ access to the Atlantic Ocean, it includes establishing roads linking these countries to the new port of Dakhla in Western Sahara , which indicates that these countries’ support for Morocco’s official position on the Sahara issue is one of the goals of this initiative in addition to the Moroccan movements to set foot in the Sahel and Sahara region.

Political independence cannot be dissociated from economic sovereignty. Without economic independence, political sovereignty is condemned to remain theoretical.  The right of permanent sovereignty of peoples and nations over their wealth and natural resources must be exercised in the interest of national development and the well-being of the population.

Indeed, the right to self-determination and sovereignty over natural resources is a recognized right but rarely applied in all its dimensions. It has a strong international dimension, hence the need to firmly commit to a democratic, just and equitable international (economic and political) order which would allow the implementation of all human rights, including the right to to self-determination.

It is wrong to consider that the POLISRIO Front is defending “separation” from Morocco, because the territory has never legally belonged to Morocco and its people never paid allegiance to the dynasties that reigned over Morocco throughout the centuries.

Therefore, it is consistent and harmonious to play against a Sahrawi authority that was established legitimately, and to demand that a referendum be held to complete the liberation of what is occupier of the land and ending decolonization in accordance with Resolutions 1514 and 1541 issued by the United Nations General Assembly, and through this it is possible The population has the choice, through a free and fair referendum, whether to achieve internationally recognized independence or to integrate with another country.

This is also the only feasible way to defuse tensions, even conflicts, including armed ones, and to find solutions in complex situations.

Stability in Western Sahara means stability in North Africa, the Sahel and the Sahara. The whole region is linked together and the fate of its peoples loe in the hand of the imternational powers to let them be and to allow therm sovreignty over their land, their resources and theour own decision=making through democratic governance and the repect of inetrnational alws and the UN Charter.

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