Luis de Vega

Both sides of the wall

With the dictator Francisco Franco dying, King Hassan II gave the coup de grace to the Spanish presence in Western Sahara with the Green March (1975). The Spanish presence was short-lived, and the last of its troops took to the air in what became known as Operation Swallow (February 1976).

Since then almost half a century has passed and the process of decolonisation of the Sahara which the United Nations should demand is still stuck in the desert sands. There is not the slightest interest.

Spain, as the power officially responsible for the territory, and Morocco, as the de facto occupier, feel comfortable amidst the indifference of the international community.

The Alaouite kingdom built a very long wall in the middle of the desert to try to prevent the Saharawis from returning and prevent possible attacks by a Polisario Front whose military capability, without external support, is almost non-existent.

Over and above the drama of tens of thousands of refugees who have been abandoned all these decades in the refugee camps near Tindouf (Algeria), control of natural resources such as phosphates, sand, fishing and hydrocarbons continues to be in the hands of Rabat and is not attracting much interest from either the United Nations or the rest of the countries.

This text could perfectly well have been written several decades ago without losing any of its validity. Africa’s oldest colony is not a regular occurrence.