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Africa’s Last Colony: Morocco’s Ongoing Occupation of Western Sahara
Western Sahara, located in the African Maghreb, is Africa’s last colony. Formerly a colony of Spain, the majority of the resource-rich Western Saharan territories have been under Moroccan occupation since 1975. Since then, the people of Western Sahara have been fighting against the Western-backed Moroccan occupation for the liberation of their country.
Mahjoub Maliha of Collective of Saharawi Human Rights Defenders (CODESA) joins the show to discuss the current situation in Western Sahara.
Vincent Tayelrand
It is obvious that Europe made a secret deal whereby Morocco supplies the EU with phosphates from the Western Sahara and in return Europe quietly accepts the military occupation.
However with Algeria’s gas reserves becoming ever more important for Europe, Algeria’s staunch support for the independence movement in the Western Sahara has become a thorny issue – something that should have been addressed years ago.
Wise diplomacy from Brussels would have salvaged the situation, but these days wisdom is in short supply in the West.
The way things are going I fear that Europe will end up with nothing – Losing the access to both the phosphates from the Western Sahara and Algerian natural gas.