Since the 1960s, the people of the Western Sahara, often referred to as “Africa’s last colony,” have been fighting to decolonize their country—first from the Spanish, and subsequently from violent Moroccan occupation. Western Sahara is still at war and the world continues to ignore its plight. This struggle has led to the formation of the resistance movement known as the Popular Front for the Liberation of Saguia el-Hamra and Río de Oro (the Polisario Front).

Currently, The Kingdom of Morocco is following in the footsteps of colonial Spain before it: asserting its power and domination over the Western Sahara for resources and control, a place it sees as inherently theirs. This is at the expense of the self-determination of the Sahrawi people, who are composed of various ethnic groups such as the Berbers, Tuaregs, and the indigenous people of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) who have been given no agency over their land or fates.

In 1991, the UN brokered a ceasefire between SADR and Morocco and committed to facilitating a referendum between the Sahrawi's rights to self-govern or to integrate with Morocco, through its Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO). Decade-long delays in this referendum allowed for Morocco to exploit and oppress the Sahrawi people, occupying and cordoning off more and more land to populate with Moroccan citizens in order to sway the referendum. This has resulted in the displacement of thousands of Sahrawi people into refugee camps run and governed by the Polisario Front, the largest of them being Tindouf in Algeria.

The violence and control exerted over Sahrawis never abated, and in November 2020, the continued conflict came to a head when Morocco effectively declared war by violating the UN brokered ceasefire. What began as a peaceful protest to block a border crossing at el Guerguerat, which the SADR deemed illegally built by Morocco, resulted in violence at the hands of the Moroccan military. Years of abuse and transgressions against the Sahrawi people, as well as an ineffective and delayed referendum, have led to the current dire situation. 

It was made even more dire when, in the following month, the US formally recognised Moroccan control over the Western Sahara in exchange for Morocco normalizing relations with the state of Israel and the subsequent sale of US drones and weapons to Morocco. Both of which were enacted under US PresidentTrump’s administration. As a result, all actions taken by the Moroccan government are internationally condoned, and the domination of the Western Sahara by an occupying force effectively greenlit. These events are worryingly similar to the longstanding forced occupation of Palestinian territories by Israeli forces. While the sale of weapons to Morocco is indicative of the force that the state has the power to exert over its claim to land that does not belong to it. 

Modern-day Colonialism in Resource-rich Sahara

Without any governance or accountability to those who belong to the land, Morocco and other exploiting forces are profiting off the vast fishing waters along the coast of the Western Sahara, as well as its copious mineral deposits such as iron, titanium, vanadium, and the possibility of oil and natural gas. The land has long been exploited for its rich phosphate reserves to the benefit of Morocco, without the Sahrawi people being able to use, access or, profit from them. This mirrors the innate practices of colonial rule, which plundered and decimated indigenous communities and societies across Africa, the ramifications of which are still felt. To see the remnants of colonialism continue in action today without intervention— after countless pleas for support and decades of peaceful protest by the Sahrawi people who desperately cling to their traditions and culture—is a travesty.

The autonomy and self-determination of the Sahrawi people is being denied, and with occupation and silencing brings about a loss of heritage and history. More often than not, the oppressing country opts to homogenize and strip the ‘minority’ in order to subsume it into the majority through active erasure. The case of the Sahrawis and Morocco is no different.

Apart from grassroots efforts, there are few resources available to Sahrawi people to be able to voice their ongoing situation. Documenting and disseminating information about the oppression and violent crimes they face is difficult without adequate and equitable dispersal of media access and resources. International media is often met with hostility and deportation by the Moroccan regime when trying to report on the issue. 

Societies Sustained By Women

At the forefront of liberation and sustaining the culture of the Sahrawi people amidst violence and erasure are its brave and resilient women, who are the epicenter of keeping future generations alive. Sahrawi women not only hold high social standing and power within their society—perceived by many to be one of the most powerful on the continent—but they are a symbol of strength and resistance against occupation. They have constantly been at the forefront of the fight for independence and are adamant about remaining so.

A cornerstone of Sahrawi society is the undisputed equality of women.he foundations of this equality were built into the Polisario: it was neither a stipulation or addendum, as is the case of many other countries’ constitutions and laws (which are commonly an afterthought put in place to assuage, but not remove, patriarchal rule and supremacy). Women have always been part of the Polisario, which specifically created the National Union of Sahrawi Women (NUSW) as an integral, politically active force for leading and organizing activist networks. Sahrawi women activists have faced decades of harassment, arrests, imprisonment, and forced disappearances for being the face of liberation.

In the continuing humanitarian crisis gripping their people, hundreds of thousands of Sahrawis live in refugee camps operated and run predominantly by women and the NUSW. They live displaced within their own country and forced into refugee camps in Algeria and elsewhere. The displacement and forced relocation to refugee camps in other countries has been detrimental to their Bedouin roots. Due to militarized walls and landmines that Morocco has spread across its occupied territories, the Sahrawi have little to no freedom of movement which has caused their historically nomadic lifestyle to come to a standstill. This changes the traditions and patterns of seasonal migration they have engaged in for centuries, deeply uprooting the lifestyles of generations of Sahrawi people. 

What We Can Do to Help? 

February 18th was International Day of Solidarity with Sahrawi Women, a day that celebrates and uplifts their voices—a significant honoring as they face what will likely be a long, violent battle with Morrocco over the fate of their right to sovereignty. A people resilient and defiant in the face of tyranny should be protected and given the resources to voice themselves and protect the space that’s owed to them. The resounding narrative, however, as we have seen it so far, is that of violent erasure. Not just of histories and cultures, but of entire peoples and societies while powerful nations remain complicit or choose silence.

We cannot afford to lose the spirit and the history of the Sahrawi people. Freedom, dignity and equal rights have always been a given for women in Sahrawi culture, who engage in as much autonomy and self-determination as men. A society built on such values should serve as an example for the rest of the world to follow and learn from—particularly in the case of surrounding North African countries. If we desire a more just world, a society that gives women equal rights should be uplifted rather than actively attacked and erased. Freedom under patriarchy is not freedom, nor will it ever amount to equality.

By raising awareness of the Sahrawi cause, international bodies and governments are pressured into imposing sanctions against Morocco and taking action to allow the SADR to exist freely. As Sahrawi activist Chaba Seini Brahim says, in an interview with Capire, the Sahrawi people and its women “will continue to march until our territories are free”—serving as a powerful reminder to keep fighting despite the odds. 

For an extensive list on how to raise awareness and help the Sahrawi cause visit Cultures of Resistance Network and stay up-to-date by visiting the Sahara Press Service.