Morocco celebrates 51st anniversary of Western Sahara takeover as UN mission ends
LAAYOUNE, Western Sahara (AP) — Morocco on Friday commemorated the Green March, the 1975 mass mobilization into then Spanish-controlled Western Sahara that helped pave the way for Morocco's takeover of most of the disputed territory.
The 51st anniversary came as the decades-old conflict enters a new diplomatic phase as a U.N. peacekeeping mission there winds down.
In Laayoune, the largest city in the part of Western Sahara controlled by Morocco, signs of the Green March anniversary were visible across public spaces.
Hundreds of pro-Morocco Sahrawis gathered at a central square. Diplomats from Arab and African countries that support Morocco’s position also attended the celebrations.
Moroccan flags fluttered in schoolchildren’s hands, portraits of King Mohammed VI overlooked roundabouts and public squares, and the national coat of arms adorned major boulevards. Uniformed and plainclothes police officers stood watch along the streets.
Western Sahara is Africa’s longest-running territorial conflict. The territory, roughly the size of the U.S. state of Colorado, is rich in fisheries and phosphate deposits. Morocco controls most of it while the pro-independence Polisario Front claims the territory.
For Bahy Ennajm, a pro-Morocco native of Western Sahara, the Green March represents a “national epic” that led to “the liberation of our southern provinces,” as Morocco calls the territory.
The event is deeply rooted in Morocco’s national narrative. Schoolchildren are taught about it in class and often sing the Green March anthem at public ceremonies.
But across the desert, beyond a long sand berm lined with military positions and minefields, the anniversary carries a different meaning.
For the Sahrawis who support independence, the Green March marks the beginning of Morocco’s takeover of most of the territory and the displacement of thousands of people. Some relatives have spent decades on opposite sides of the divide, living in Morocco-controlled cities or in refugee camps near the Algerian city of Tindouf, with few chances to meet.
The U.N. mission, whose mandate has expired, once helped facilitate visits that allowed families divided by the conflict to reunite. Visits were suspended in 2014 after disagreements between the parties.
“There are some people who have their uncles, cousins and other relatives in Tindouf,” said pro-Morocco Western Sahara resident Layla Choraifi. “Morocco is opening its hand to them, and we hope for a family reunification in peace.”
Jaafari Ahmed, who is also pro-Morocco, said that he no longer keeps in touch with a relative living on the other side of the berm.
“Even the king said they are welcome in Morocco, but the Algerian regime is not allowing them to return,” he said.
This year, their separation is set against a new diplomatic turning point. The U.N. Security Council failed to renew the mandate of a peacekeeping mission that was established in 1991 to monitor a ceasefire and organize a referendum on the territory’s future.
The mandate of the mission, known as MINURSO, expired on Oct. 31.
There was little visible sign during Friday’s celebrations that the mission was preparing to wind down. The U.N. and Moroccan flags still flew side by side at MINURSO’s headquarters, while U.N.-marked vehicles continued to patrol the city streets.
“MINURSO was here for 35 years, and it didn’t bring anything to Morocco,” said Mohamed Ali Ansar, a Laayoune resident who supports Moroccan rule.
The mission was created in 1991 to monitor a ceasefire between Morocco and the Polisario Front and to establish a referendum allowing the Sahrawis to choose between independence and integration into Morocco. But the referendum never took place and the fragile ceasefire collapsed.
Al-Houcine Baali, another pro-Morocco Sahrawi who took part in the Green March in 1975 and was wearing his attendance medal, said that the peacekeeping mission had done little to resolve the conflict.
Morocco has welcomed the end of the U.N. mandate. It has increasing support from powerful allies, including the United States and France, for its proposal to give Western Sahara autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty.
The Polisario Front, backed by Algeria and Russia, says the territory’s people must be allowed to choose independence through a referendum. It has expressed regret over the mission’s nonrenewal.
Morocco and the Polisario Front are separated by a long sand berm called the sand wall. The independence movement controls areas east of it. The U.N. continues to list Western Sahara as a non-self-governing territory, or NSGT, awaiting decolonization.
The Green March began on Nov. 6, 1975, when King Hassan II called on Moroccans to enter Spanish-ruled Western Sahara. Morocco says 350,000 civilians took part. Spain withdrew the following year, but the Polisario Front, founded in 1973 to end Spanish rule, rejected the agreement and continued fighting for independence. Morocco later consolidated control over most of the territory and built the berm that divides it today.
Meanwhile, Morocco has poured investment into the territory, building roads, ports and industrial infrastructure and promoting renewable energy projects. The Moroccan government presents the development drive as evidence that its administration has improved living standards.
Despite the construction boom, residents in Laayoune continue to grapple with everyday economic pressures, including the cost of living and access to jobs. Some residents who spoke to The Associated Press said that these concerns remain more immediate in their daily lives.
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