{"id":4101,"date":"2016-03-23T16:05:22","date_gmt":"2016-03-23T20:05:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thediplomaticenvoy.com\/?p=4101"},"modified":"2021-01-22T18:15:47","modified_gmt":"2021-01-22T23:15:47","slug":"focus-on-territorial-disputes-western-sahara","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/2016\/03\/23\/focus-on-territorial-disputes-western-sahara\/","title":{"rendered":"Focus on Territorial Disputes: Western Sahara"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Emily Green<\/a>
\nStaff Writer<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The Western Sahara, a region south of Morocco bordered by Algeria and Mauritania, is home to the Sahrawi people, a predominantly Muslim ethnic group. <\/span><\/p>\n

Although the territory was once a Spanish colony, Morocco has asserted control over the region since 1975, when 350,000 Moroccans crossed the border to lay claim to the Western Sahara. \u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Acting out against the annexation, the Sahrawi-led Polisario Front initiated a guerrilla campaign against the Moroccans, resulting in a fierce conflict. The fighting continued until 1985, when the U.N. Secretary-General introduced \u201csettlement proposals\u201d for a peaceful resolution. Under the U.N. proposal, the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) was created in 1991 to facilitate a referendum for Sahrawi self-determination. <\/span><\/p>\n

Before the referendum was held, a ceasefire needed to come into effect to trigger a transitional period. Although both the Polisario Front and the Moroccans agreed upon a date in September 1991, implementation of the ceasefire was delayed and hostilities were revived after a two-year period of peace. Seeking to restore stability, MINURSO deployed military observers, effectively switching the mission\u2019s goal from brokering a referendum to monitoring the ceasefire. <\/span><\/p>\n

Although the ceasefire has largely held, little progress has been made towards establishing an environment conducive to the referendum, in spite of renewed negotiations between the parties in 2008, 2009, and 2010. <\/span><\/p>\n

On March 5, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon traveled to the disputed territory to meet with Polisario Front leaders. Ban noted the parties\u2019 lack of progress towards a last political solution and spoke out against the \u201cunacceptable situation,\u201d which he characterized as \u201cone of the forgotten humanitarian tragedies of our times,\u201d according to the UN. The Western Sahara, commonly referred to as \u201cAfrica\u2019s last colony,\u201d is home to some of the oldest refugee camps in the world, used to hold Sahrawi people. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In retaliation, the Moroccan government issued a statement on March 8 accusing Ban of \u201cdropping his neutrality and impartiality\u201d to support \u201ca puppet state.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

Although Ban\u2019s spokesman was quick to dismiss the claims, tens of thousands of Moroccans took to the streets in protest on March 13, waving Moroccan flags and chanting, \u201cThe Sahara is ours, the King is ours.\u201d According to Fortune Magazine, the rally sought to \u201ctell Ban and the world that the Sahara is a red line\u201d for the Moroccan people, as one protester stated.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Western Sahara, a region south of Morocco bordered by Algeria and Mauritania, is home to the Sahrawi people, a predominantly Muslim ethnic group. Although the territory was once a Spanish colony, Morocco has asserted control over the region since 1975, when 350,000 Moroccans crossed the border to lay claim to the Western Sahara. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2118,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"colormag_page_container_layout":"default_layout","colormag_page_sidebar_layout":"default_layout","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[752,5,1096],"tags":[777,778,891],"class_list":["post-4101","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-march2016","category-focus","category-1096","tag-morocco","tag-polisario-front","tag-territorial-disputes"],"yoast_head":"\nFocus on Territorial Disputes: Western Sahara - The Diplomatic Envoy<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/2016\/03\/23\/focus-on-territorial-disputes-western-sahara\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Focus on Territorial Disputes: Western Sahara - The Diplomatic Envoy\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Western Sahara, a region south of Morocco bordered by Algeria and Mauritania, is home to the Sahrawi people, a predominantly Muslim ethnic group. 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Her interests include the maintenance of international peace and security, the humanitarian aspects of crises, and international organizations. She is currently an intern with the U.S. Mission to the United Nations, where she covers Security Council proceedings. She hopes to one day enter the Foreign Service in the political track. 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