Western Sahara: Africa’s Last Colony

Meriem Naïli Meriem Naïli writes about the continuing struggle for the independence of Western Sahara. Occupied by Morocco since the 1970s, in contravention of the International Court of Justice and the UN. The internationally recognised liberation movement, POLISARIO, has fought and campaigned for independence since the early 1970s. Naïli explains what is going on, and…

Morocco Fails to Obtain Kenyan Endorsement for its Colonial Occupation of Western Sahara

Pavan Kulkarni SADR President Brahim Ghali attending the inauguration ceremony of the Kenyan President William Ruto on September 13. (Photo:: Kamal Fadel/Twitter A Kenyan foreign ministry’s communique has clarified that the announcement made on Twitter by newly elected President Willian Ruto on rescinding recognition for the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) was arbitrary and had…

Right Violations and War Crimes by Morocco Continue in Occupied Western Sahara

Peoples Dispatch CODESA members. CODESA’s first annual report since its formation in 2020 asks the UN and other international organizations to take immediate steps to complete the decolonization process in Western Sahara. The Collective of Saharawi Human Rights Defenders in Western Sahara (CODESA) released its first annual report on July 28 titled,  “Continuous war crimes and crimes…

Western Sahara: The War Morocco Denies

Carlos Aznárez and María Torrellas Alísalem Babeit acts as a representative of the Polisario Front in Cantabria (Spanish State) and is one of the many Saharawis who are convinced that the war they are waging against the Moroccan monarchy is just, as they have left their people no other choice. For years they have been…

Human Rights Groups Hold Unified Protests Across Spain in Condemnation of Melilla Massacre

Sarah Babiker A week after the death of at least 37 people in Melilla, activists and groups take to the streets to support the survivors of the border violence and demand accountability. In the afternoon of Friday, July 1, protests were held in more than 60 cities and towns in Spain, condemning the massacre of…

Massacre of African Refugees in Melilla Ahead of NATO’s Madrid Summit – Coincidence?

Pavan Kulkarni Spain is seeking NATO protection for Melilla, where the massacre occurred, and Ceuta, its other colonial enclave on the North African coast. The NATO Summit has declared irregular migration from Africa to be a threat to the “state security” of its members A key agenda of the Spanish government in the NATO summit…

Statement by New World Mathaba: Brutal Attacks on Africans in Morocco Highlights Crisis in Africa

STATEMENT ISSUED BY NEW WORLD MATHABA: BRUTAL ATTACKS ON AFRICANS IN MOROCCO HIGHLIGHTS CRISIS IN AFRICA On June 24th, approximately 2000 African migrants made a desperate attempt at a mass border crossing, climbing the iron fence separating Morocco and the Spanish enclave of Melilla. Footage of African bodies piled up at the foot of the…

Massacre in Melilla: A Barbaric Crime

Alejandro López 37 refugees dead, hundreds injured in Spanish-Moroccan police massacre at Melilla border Spain’s Socialist Party (PSOE)-Podemos government, working with Moroccan police acting as the European Union’s border guards, have carried out a barbaric massacre at the borders of the Spanish enclave of Melilla in Africa. At least 37 migrants were killed and 150…

Polisario’s Break of Contacts with Spain Augurs Further Algerian Escalation

Mohamed Alaoui Polisario demonstrators protest against the Spanish government support for Morocco’s autonomy plan for Western Sahara, in Madrid, March 26, 2022. (AFP) Morocco’s King Mohammed VI last week hosted Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez in a landmark visit, which consecrated the mending of the two countries’ ties. RABAT-The Polisario Front and behind it Algeria…

Polisario Front Suspends Diplomatic Relations with Spain

Algiers, 10 April 2022 (SPS) – The Polisario Front has decided to suspend its contacts with the current Spanish Government, following the position of Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on the issue of Western Sahara. “The Polisario Front has decided to suspend its contacts with the current Spanish Government until it dissociates from the instrumentalization…

Cold War Under the Scorching Sun: A New Conflict is Brewing in Africa

Robert Inlakesh A picture taken from the Moroccan region of Oujda shows Algerian border guards patrolling along the border with Morocco on November 4, 2021 [FADEL SENNA/AFP via Getty Images] Dubbed North Africa’s new ‘Cold War’, the tensions between Morocco and neighboring Algeria threaten to escalate and the consequences of this have a lot more…

Spain Abandons Former Colony in Western Sahara Endorsing Morocco Domination

Abayomi Azikiwe Spain has announced that it has endorsed a proposal by the Kingdom of Morocco to designate the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) as an “autonomous” region within the North African state. Former United States President Donald Trump in 2020, recognized Moroccan control over the Western Sahara in an attempt to strengthen relations between…

Morocco Drives a War in Western Sahara for Its Phosphates

Vijay Prashad View of Western Sahara taken during ISS Expedition 56. Bou Craa is the site of a phosphate deposit of over 1.7 billion tons. (Image by Public Domain) In November 2020, the Moroccan government sent its military to the Guerguerat area, a buffer zone between the territory claimed by the Kingdom of Morocco and the Sahrawi…

Morocco-Algeria: A War on the Horizon?

Guadi Calvo The Moroccan regime, in full view of the whole world, continues to repress the Saharawi people, whom it continues to murder unceremoniously, not satisfied with having usurped eighty percent of its territory and continuing to exploit its phosphate deposits since 1975, the most important in the world, and also one of the world’s…

Despite Setbacks, Western Sahara Continues the Struggle for Self-Determination

Mahjoub Maliha of CODESA (Collective of Saharawi Human Rights Defenders) speaks to Peoples Dispatch about the situation in Western Sahara after the violation of the ceasefire agreement by Moroccan forces last November and the human rights violations against activists and civilians by the Moroccan state that followed. He also points that international actors have failed…

The Hidden Hunger in Morocco

Madaar An Informal housing settlement in Karyan Touma, Ain Sebaa, Casablanca. It is very hot during the summer and floods in the winter. Photo: Madaar While official statistics suggest the North African country does not suffer with hunger, the reality is a different story covered up by lack of reliable data and social stigma Hunger…

EU-Morocco Trade Deals that Include Western Sahara Violate International Law

Peoples Dispatch (Photo: Ambassador Oubi Bachir/Twitter) The European Court of Justice had issued similar verdicts in 2016 and 2018, stating that the Western Sahara region cannot be considered as part of Morocco in such trade agreements The European Union’s (EU) highest court on Wednesday, September 29, cancelled two trade deals with Morocco, involving farm and…

Morocco Gas Flows are Now Protected by the US Army

Phil Butler In June, the United States and Morocco cooperated in operation African Lion, the largest ever US military exercise conducted on Africa. Somehow, think tanks around the world did not publish analyses or complaints of American hegemony and aggression, though. Russia’s state-run RT did not launch a special series blaming America for all the…