page_title: 2011 Western Saharan protests
hierarchical_section_title: 2011 Western Saharan protests
caption_attribution_description: Improved PNG version of Image:SADR location.gif showing the location of the "Free Zone" claimed by the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic.
context_page_description: The 2011 Western Saharan protests began on 25 February 2011 as a reaction to the failure of police to prevent anti-Sahrawi looting in the city of Dakhla, Western Sahara, and blossomed into protests across the territory. They were related to the Gdeim Izik protest camp in Western Sahara established the previous fall, which had resulted in violence between Sahrawi activists and Moroccan security forces and supporters. The protests also purportedly drew inspiration from the Arab Spring and successful revolts in Tunisia and Egypt, though according to some commentators, the Arab Spring proper did not reach Western Sahara.
  No significant protests were reported beyond May 2011, though international media coverage of Western Sahara is incomplete at best. There is renewed calls for peaceful protests from the Polisario Front.
context_section_description: The 2011 Western Saharan protests began on 25 February 2011 as a reaction to the failure of police to prevent anti-Sahrawi looting in the city of Dakhla, Western Sahara, and blossomed into protests across the territory. They were related to the Gdeim Izik protest camp in Western Sahara established the previous fall, which had resulted in violence between Sahrawi activists and Moroccan security forces and supporters. The protests also purportedly drew inspiration from the Arab Spring and successful revolts in Tunisia and Egypt, though according to some commentators, the Arab Spring proper did not reach Western Sahara.
  No significant protests were reported beyond May 2011, though international media coverage of Western Sahara is incomplete at best. There is renewed calls for peaceful protests from the Polisario Front.
caption: Locator map of the Western Sahara with zones of de facto control
exif: {}