Multiple colonialism in Western Sahara
The Sahrawi are a hybrid people found in parts of northwest Africa, mostly Western Sahara and they are victims of multiple colonialism. The decision by European powers to include parts of their land in various colonies subjected many Sahrawi to different French and Spanish colonial policies and experiences in Morocco, Algeria, Mauretania and Western Sahara. The Spaniards took control of Western Sahara and when they decided to leave, Morocco, with its irredentist dreams stepped in. Morocco became the new colonial power as it claimed Western Sahara territory as a province. It behaves in the same way as the French did when they claimed that Algeria was a province of France. Morocco exploited the prevailing international climate to advance its colonialistic proclivities at a time when territorial colonialism had become anathema internationally. That climate made the big powers, whether communistic or capitalistic, appear to support Morocco. This way their perceived interests seemed to dictate that they be in good books with Morocco and they thus condoned Morocco's annexationist designs. The fact that Morocco itself used to be colonized by the French and the Spaniards tends to hide the fact that it is a colonial power imposing itself on the Sahrawi. Key words: Western Sahara, colonialism, Morocco, Spain
International Dimensions in the Western Sahara Conflict
The African continent struggled for decades to eradicate colonialism and external forms of occupation. After the end of apartheid, it was seen that the struggle had been completed; however, it seems that the struggle still continues in the case of Western Sahara. The Western Saharan conflict is considered to be one of the forgotten conflicts in the world and the territory is listed as one of the non-self governing territories by the United Nations. It is considered as a conflict of liberation and for the right of self determination against an occupying country- Morocco. The conflict has seen the involvement of various regional and international actors such as Algeria, Spain, United States, EU and the UN all with their interests in the territory. This paper aims to analyze the role played by each actor and how their involvement in the conflict has impacted the conflict. The first section will provide a brief background to the conflict and the legal issues surrounding the conflict. The second part will focus on the regional dimensions in the conflict; the regional actors involved and how the conflict is impacting them. The third part will focus on the international arena and how their involvement has impacted the Sahrawi right of self determination. The final section will dwell on why the territory is important to the international arena.
The Wind of Change in the Western Sahara
The senegal river is the threshold of two worlds. To the south is the rich, assertive, teeming world of 'Afrique Noire'. To the north are empty savannas, gum forests, dunes and mountains stretching as far as the Saguia el Hamra (Saqiya al-Hamra0) to the far north and Timbuktu to the east. It is the world of the herdsman and his herds, the merchant and his caravan, the scholar and his manuscripts, where no change of any kind seemed thinkable in the worst of all possible environments and where the despairing cry of the Moorish poet, Muhammad uld Shaykh Sidya, seemed ever to repeat itself?'My stay is prolonged, only by the choice of the Almighty, not my own. I had no intention of making my abode there, but the hand of destiny east me there. The heart grows weary of its cold and its humidity and its raw damp wastelands, weary of its pebbles like sharp knives and trees like dagger points.' The Western Sahara has known vast changes through the centuries. The Sene? gal river is not a cultural barrier; 'Afrique Noire' once extended far to the north of it. In the Hodh (Hawd), the Soninke kingdom of Ghana and the Lamtuna centre of Awdaghust belonged in their cultural and commercial links to the Sudan, as much as they did to the Islamic world of the north. The pull of 'Afrique Noire' was to persist long after the seizure ofthe Soninke capital in 1067 by the Almoravids and the emigration of its merchants to Oualata (Walata) in 1224. South-west Mauritania until the end of the eleventh century was under the rule of Takrur (Takrur) and formed part of the country of Takrur, and vast tracts of eastern Mauritania were part of the Mandinka empire of Mali. Sudanic languages were widely used, and to this day the Soninke Azayr dialect is spoken by a few Moors and others in Tichitt (Tishit), Oualata and Ouadane (Wadan), while along the north? ern banks of the Senegal river, the Shamama, there are settlements of Toucouleur and Sarakolle.