UN Envoy’s Sahara Partition Proposal Rejected by Morocco and Polisario Front

Faced with the stalemate observed for the past three years in the process of resolving this conflict, Staffan de Mistura expressed his disappointment before the Security Council. In an exercise of "frank assessment" of the situation, the UN Special Envoy reported the "level of frustration and despair" of the Sahrawis, which he observed during his visit in early October to the Tindouf camps in Algeria, the bellicose intentions of the Polisario since its announcement of the ceasefire breach in November 2020, and the persistent "hostility" between Rabat and Algiers.

"We must move forward constructively in the political process and urgently," said the Italian-Swedish diplomat in his address, deploring the lack of "creativity" and "open-mindedness" of the parties to the conflict to agree on a mutually acceptable solution. To break the deadlock, De Mistura said he had proposed to the parties concerned by the Sahara conflict the idea of a "sharing of the territory" as follows: the north to Morocco and the south to the Polisario, taking into account the "limits of the portion controlled by Mauritania" between 1976 and 1979.

Contrary to some countries in the region and outside who have expressed "some interest in this possibility", Morocco and the Polisario have not shown "the willingness to explore" this avenue, regretted the UN diplomat. These remarks reflect De Mistura’s "despair" and reveal his "attempt to put pressure on the parties," analyzes Irene Fernández-Molina, professor of international relations at the University of Exeter and a specialist on the Maghreb, recalling that this option of sharing had already been mentioned in 2002 by the former UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, and his special envoy, James Baker.

For Isaías Barreñada, professor of international relations at the Complutense University of Madrid, it is "unrealistic" at this stage to reconsider an option that had already been ruled out. Accepting this solution would be to accept the "illegal occupation" of the Sahara by Morocco, added Barreñada, noting that in the event of the effectiveness of this sharing, the city of Dakhla would find itself in the part of the Sahara controlled by the Polisario. Yet Morocco is preparing to invest nearly 1.2 billion euros in the construction of the new port of the city, which will be an Atlantic gateway for the Sahel countries.

"I doubt that from the point of view of economic interest, Morocco will give in," stressed Fernández-Molina, noting that the kingdom attaches more importance to Dakhla than to Laâyoune. Barreñada, for his part, drew attention to the consequences of this option, recalling that the partition of Palestine has caused more problems than it has solved. The escalation of the conflict in Gaza leads to the recognition that it was "a big mistake" to divide this territory instead of decolonizing it, he said.