The United Nations and the Sahara

Since the fruitful tour of Moroccan Minister of Foreign Affairs Nasser Bourita to the United States, France, Spain and other European countries, which reconfirmed their support for the plan for autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty for the Sahara as the most serious, credible and realistic solution, there have been advances such as the initiative in the United States Congress to declare the Polisario Front a terrorist organisation, as well as various contacts with Russia to pressure Algeria to agree to sit at the United Nations negotiating table, which last met in 2019.

Various experts, such as Michael Rubin, former advisor to the Pentagon, insist that the main powers interested in a solution to the conflict should recognise the Sahrawi Movement for Peace (MSP) as the legitimate and democratic representative of the Sahrawi people.

Rubin stressed that the Polisario Front ‘has never been elected by the Sahrawi people, nor have they had the opportunity to vote for their representatives,’ and advocated granting this role to the MSP, especially after its recognition by the Socialist International. 

In Dakhla, in the Sahara, politicians, diplomats, academics, lawyers, journalists and high-ranking professionals participating in the Second AUSACO Conference from Spain, Italy, France, Egypt, Jordan, Mali, Cameroon, Rwanda, Mexico, Peru and the Dominican Republic called for a redefinition of the United Nations' approach in light of the new realities in the Moroccan Sahara and for Algeria and the Polisario Front to sit at the UN negotiating table. They also noted the results of the new development model for the area and highlighted the major initiatives promoted by King Mohammed VI, such as the Morocco-Nigeria gas pipeline, the Atlantic-Africa Initiative and the Initiative to Promote Access to the Atlantic for the Sahel Countries. 

Canarian lawyer María Ángeles Ramos highlighted a very important legal aspect of the 1975 Madrid Accords, which grant tribal leaders a prominent role in the administration of the Sahara.  

The visit to the construction site of the new Atlantic Port of Dakhla reinforced the evidence that it represents one of the bastions of the future development of the southern provinces of Morocco, but also of neighbouring African countries, Spain and the European Union, and will mark a turning point of all kinds between Africa, Europe and America. 

The director of the port of Dakhla guaranteed cooperation with the entire region, including the Spanish ports in the Canary Islands, within the framework of the excellent relations between Spain and Morocco.