The Self-Determination of the Sahrawi People
The self-determination of the Sahrawi People
Western Sahara has been the focus of Human Right organizations for almost a decade. Reports of an array of human right abuses have been claimed mostly due to the militaristic policing of the displaced Sahrawi people caused by the Moroccan government. This paper will conduct an evaluation of the human right abuses and thus provide possible remedies to end them. First this paper will provide a brief summary of the highly complex history of the Sahrawi people. Second, the paper identifies the most pressing human right abuses in Western Sahara, and how the actors involved carry out or enable the continuance of the abuses. Third, this paper will determine that the human right abuses are in need of immediate attention primarily because of the growing threats of terrorism as a form of reaction by the Sahrawi youth. Lastly, this paper will argue for a combination of greater UN intervention and international economic coercion as the primary solutions to ending the human right abuses in Western Sahara.
Background:
In 1885, the leaders of the western European powers convened at the Berlin Conference to formalize what is referred to as the Scramble for Africa. The African continent was divided by hand forming arbitrary borders that had no significance for the indigenous populations of the continent. There were many self-interested reasons amongst the concerned parties but the overall goal was to prevent conflict amongst the western claims to territory and ultimately raw materials on the African continent. Spain got what we know today as the Western Sahara. A nationalist movement took shape in neigbouring Morocco, leading to its independence in 1974. Morocco’s King, Hassam II, claimed that the regions of Western Sahara, Western Algeria and Northern Mauritania had been part of the kingdom of Morocco in its pre-colonial history. In November 1975, King Hassan II led the “Green March” of over 300,000 unarmed Moroccans to the disputed
Western Sahara has been the focus of Human Right organizations for almost a decade. Reports of an array of human right abuses have been claimed mostly due to the militaristic policing of the displaced Sahrawi people caused by the Moroccan government. This paper will conduct an evaluation of the human right abuses and thus provide possible remedies to end them. First this paper will provide a brief summary of the highly complex history of the Sahrawi people. Second, the paper identifies the most pressing human right abuses in Western Sahara, and how the actors involved carry out or enable the continuance of the abuses. Third, this paper will determine that the human right abuses are in need of immediate attention primarily because of the growing threats of terrorism as a form of reaction by the Sahrawi youth. Lastly, this paper will argue for a combination of greater UN intervention and international economic coercion as the primary solutions to ending the human right abuses in Western Sahara.
Background:
In 1885, the leaders of the western European powers convened at the Berlin Conference to formalize what is referred to as the Scramble for Africa. The African continent was divided by hand forming arbitrary borders that had no significance for the indigenous populations of the continent. There were many self-interested reasons amongst the concerned parties but the overall goal was to prevent conflict amongst the western claims to territory and ultimately raw materials on the African continent. Spain got what we know today as the Western Sahara. A nationalist movement took shape in neigbouring Morocco, leading to its independence in 1974. Morocco’s King, Hassam II, claimed that the regions of Western Sahara, Western Algeria and Northern Mauritania had been part of the kingdom of Morocco in its pre-colonial history. In November 1975, King Hassan II led the “Green March” of over 300,000 unarmed Moroccans to the disputed