Sahrawi Nationalism
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Sahrawi nationalism () is a
political ideology An ideology is a set of beliefs or values attributed to a person or group of persons, especially those held for reasons that are not purely about belief in certain knowledge, in which "practical elements are as prominent as theoretical ones". Form ...
that seeks
self-determination Self-determination refers to a people's right to form its own political entity, and internal self-determination is the right to representative government with full suffrage. Self-determination is a cardinal principle in modern international la ...
of the
Sahrawi people The Sahrawis, or Sahrawi people ( '), are an ethnic group native to the western part of the Sahara desert, which includes the Western Sahara, southern Morocco, much of Mauritania, and along the southwestern border of Algeria. They are of mixed ...
, the indigenous population of
Western Sahara Western Sahara is a territorial dispute, disputed territory in Maghreb, North-western Africa. It has a surface area of . Approximately 30% of the territory () is controlled by the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR); the remaining 70% is ...
. It has historically been represented by the
Polisario Front The Popular Front for the Liberation of Saguia el-Hamra and Río de Oro (Spanish language, Spanish: ; ), better known by its acronym Polisario Front, is a Sahrawi nationalism, Sahrawi nationalist liberation movement seeking to end the occupatio ...
. It came as a reaction against Spanish colonialist policies imposed from 1958 on, and subsequently in reaction to the Mauritanian and Moroccan invasions of 1975. Its main opposing ideologies have been
Spanish colonialism The Spanish Empire, sometimes referred to as the Hispanic Monarchy (political entity), Hispanic Monarchy or the Catholic Monarchy, was a colonial empire that existed between 1492 and 1976. In conjunction with the Portuguese Empire, it ushered ...
(
Spanish Sahara Spanish Sahara (; ), officially the Spanish Possessions in the Sahara from 1884 to 1958, then Province of the Sahara between 1958 and 1976, was the name used for the modern territory of Western Sahara when it was occupied and ruled by Spain bet ...
, 1884–1975), Mauritanian irredentism ( Tiris al-Gharbiyya, 1975–1979), Moroccan irredentism (
Southern Provinces The Southern Provinces or Moroccan Sahara are the terms used by the Moroccan government to refer to the occupied territory of Western Sahara. These designations encompass the entirety of Western Sahara, which spans three of Morocco's 12 top- ...
, 1975-present) and
Pan-Arabism Pan-Arabism () is a Pan-nationalism, pan-nationalist ideology that espouses the unification of all Arabs, Arab people in a single Nation state, nation-state, consisting of all Arab countries of West Asia and North Africa from the Atlantic O ...
.


History


Before the 1950s

In 1884,
Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
set up a colony on the Rio de Oro bay (Villa Cisneros, current day Dakhla). Despite considering the entire territory of current-day Western Sahara as its possession, beyond a handful of coastal settlements, Spain did not have effective control over the desert hinterland due to its harsh climatic conditions and the presence of small,
nomadic Nomads are communities without fixed habitation who regularly move to and from areas. Such groups include hunter-gatherers, pastoral nomads (owning livestock), tinkers and trader nomads. In the twentieth century, the population of nomadic pa ...
groups, among whom intertribal conflicts were frequent.


Spanish colonialism

In 1957, Sahrawis began to enroll in the
Moroccan Army of Liberation The Army of Liberation (; ) was an organization of various loosely united militias fighting for the independence of Morocco from the French- Spanish protectorate. It was founded in 1955 as an attempt to organise the various factions of rural ...
and launched attacks against French positions in southwestern
Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...
and the extreme north of
Mauritania Mauritania, officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, is a sovereign country in Maghreb, Northwest Africa. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Western Sahara to Mauritania–Western Sahara border, the north and northwest, ...
, capitalizing on Western Sahara’s strategic location. In Western Sahara itself, by the end of 1957, the Sahrawi contingent of the guerilla movement forced the Spanish army to retreat near Sidi Ifni. In December 1966, the
General Assembly of the United Nations The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; , AGNU or AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as its main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ. Currently in its 79th session, its powers, ...
adopted a resolution and proposed an UN-supervised
self-determination Self-determination refers to a people's right to form its own political entity, and internal self-determination is the right to representative government with full suffrage. Self-determination is a cardinal principle in modern international la ...
referendum in Western Sahara. In 1971, university students began to organize the Movement for the Liberation of Saguia el Hamra and Wadi el Dhahab, formally constituted as the
Polisario Front The Popular Front for the Liberation of Saguia el-Hamra and Río de Oro (Spanish language, Spanish: ; ), better known by its acronym Polisario Front, is a Sahrawi nationalism, Sahrawi nationalist liberation movement seeking to end the occupatio ...
in 1973. Ten days after its founding, the Polisario Front launched a guerilla war against the Spanish. King Hassan II of Morocco rallied political support and announced that his country would oppose independence as an option in the Western Sahara referendum. In response, Spain stalled and postponed the long-planned self-determination referendum, which caused dismay among the Sahrawi population, especially the youth. In 1975, the
United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...
sent an official mission to Western Sahara to investigate the neighboring countries' claims over the territory and the will of the Sahrawi population. They reported that "the population, or at least almost all those persons encountered on the mission, was categorically for independence" and that the Polisario Front was widely seen as a dominant, legitimate political force in the territory. This was attested by pro-Polisario demonstrations in many locations that the United Nations mission visited. Still in 1975,
Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...
,
Mauritania Mauritania, officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, is a sovereign country in Maghreb, Northwest Africa. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Western Sahara to Mauritania–Western Sahara border, the north and northwest, ...
, and Spain signed the
Madrid Accords The Madrid Accords, formally the Declaration of Principles on Western Sahara, was a treaty between Spain, Morocco, and Mauritania setting out six principles which would end the Spanish presence in the territory of Spanish Sahara and arrange a ...
, which divided Western Sahara’s territory between Morocco (northern two-third) and Mauritania (southern one-third). In 1979, Mauritania withdrew its troops from the territory and, in 1984, officially recognized the
Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic The Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), also known as the Sahrawi Republic and Western Sahara, is a partially recognized state in the western Maghreb, which claims the non-self-governing territory of Western Sahara, but controls only ...
(SADR).


Moroccan occupation

Following Mauritania’s withdrawal, Morocco occupied the rest of the territory of Western Sahara. During the 1980s, little changed in the conflict between Morocco and the Sahrawi population. Meanwhile, Sahrawi nationalists and the United Nations agreed that a referendum on self-determination would be the best way to put an end to the military conflict between Morocco and the SADR. The vote would have been between complete independence and integration with Morocco. At the time, Morocco saw this as the best way to legitimate its claim and hold on the territory. In 1991, the UN established the
United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara The United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (; ; ; MINURSO) is the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Western Sahara, established in 1991 under United Nations Security Council Resolution 690 as part of the Settlement P ...
(MINURSO), which paved the way for a cease-fire agreement between Morocco and the SADR. However, the planned referendum never became a reality. According to
Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Headquartered in New York City, the group investigates and reports on issues including War crime, war crimes, crim ...
, as of 2023, “draconian laws reused by prosecutors f the Moroccan governmentto punish even peaceful advocacy for self-determination.”


See also

* Sahrawi nationality law *
Decolonization of Africa The decolonisation of Africa was a series of political developments in Africa that spanned from the mid-1950s to 1975, during the Cold War. Colonial governments gave way to sovereign states in a process often marred by violence, political turm ...
* UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara * Berberism *
Western Sahara War The Western Sahara War (, , ) was an armed conflict between the Sahrawi indigenous Polisario Front and Morocco from 1975 to 1991 (and Mauritania from 1975 to 1979), being the most significant phase of the Western Sahara conflict. The confl ...
*
Western Sahara conflict The Western Sahara conflict is an ongoing conflict between the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic/Polisario Front and the Morocco, Kingdom of Morocco. The conflict originated from an insurgency by the Polisario Front against Spanish colonial ...
* Western Saharan clashes (2020–present)


References

{{WesternSahara-stub