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Western Sahara Conflict: Territories
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The first known inhabitants of the Western Sahara were Berber tribes during the Roman period. The tribes were originally sedentary, engaging in agriculture. During the Christian era, they became nomadic. By the 9th century, these nomads were known for their warlike qualities, as they raided caravans, engaged in robbery and feuded with rival tribes. The descendants of the Berbers in modern-day Western Sahara are the Tekna. In the 14th century, Arab tribes that swept across North Africa from Egypt, began to settle in the territory.
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The war in the Western Sahara recently entered its sixteenth year. Although progress toward peace has been made, concrete steps to a final resolution have not yet occurred. This has had serious political, social, economic, and military consequences for the countries in the region. Despite the significance of the issue, until now very few scholarly works have dealt with the regional and international dimensions of the conflict. In particular, little attention has been paid to the role of the superpowers and of the United Nations in the region and to the other related issues which are the focus of this book. The Western Sahara conflict raises serious questions about the role of international law and of the United Nations in achieving the decolonization of former colonial territories and resolving regional conflicts.
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The landscape of Western Sahara by itself does not have much to offer, other than sandy dunes, a desert climate and arid soil. Other than subsistence farming, most food is imported. Yet, the territory is blessed with natural resources, some proven and others not yet exploited. In 1961, Spain discovered high grade phosphate deposits at Bu Craa. The phosphate is particularly valuable because of its high quality and location less than 20 feet below the surface. During the last full year of production at Bu Craa (1975), the Spanish extracted some 5.6 million tons of raw phosphate.
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Morocco’s military invasion of Spanish/Western Sahara commenced in 30-31 October 1975. At that time, the colony was fully under Spanish control. Morocco’s invasion was motivated by the fact that Madrid was planning a referendum on independence, as called for by the International Court of Justice on 16 October 1975. Days after armed Moroccan forces penetrated Spanish Sahara, thousands of Moroccan civilians -- the ‘Green March’, with the active encouragement and logistical support of the Moroccan government -- crossed the frontier on 5-6 November, with the expressed intent on marching to the Territory’s capital, al-‘Ayun. The goal of the Green March was to force Spain to negotiate a hand-over of the Territory to Morocco. Otherwise Spain would have had to repel the thousands of unarmed Moroccan civilian marchers by force.
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BEGONA ERRAZTI, President of Eusko Alkartasuna, denounced the occupation of Western Sahara by Morocco, and called for the exercise of a democratic referendum for free self-determination, which would counter the "false proposal" for autonomy made by Morocco. She refuted several points made by prior petitioners that Western Sahara was a Territory waiting for decolonization. Morocco was not an administering Power, but an occupying Power. That occupation had not been authorized by the United Nations; historical fact had not legitimized Morocco's occupation. Only military force had been used to legitimize it. The POLISARIO Front was a liberation front that had been recognized as the only legitimate representative of the Saharawi people by the United Nations.
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Currently, Western Sahara is largely administered by Morocco. The extent of Morocco's administration is north and west of the border wall, approximately two-thirds of the territory. The official Moroccan government name for Western Sahara is the " Southern Provinces", which indicate Río de Oro and Saguia el-Hamra. When the territory was a dependency of Spain, the same two subdivisions existed. The remaining area is largely empty and control of it is claimed by the Polisario Front as liberated territory. It is divided into military zones for military/administrative purposes and for MINURSO peace-keeping, but the absence of a settled population has made further administrative structures unnecessary.
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