ASFA: What is the driving force behind Morocco’s occupation of Western Sahara?
Malainin Lakhal: “There are various and complicated motives behind the Moroccan occupation of Western Sahara.
One, Morocco is a very poor country (in terms of natural resources) with a big population (over 35 millions), while Western Sahara is very rich in all sorts of renewable and non-renewable resources.
Two, geographically speaking, half of Morocco’s territory is completely useless because of Mountains and arid regions. The only useful regions are the coastal ones while the entire zone in the middle, the far North, and South of Morocco are difficult to live in because of Mountains. So, Western Sahara presents a big and wide-open territorial expansion for Morocco.
Third reason is the outcome of the expansionist dogma of the kingdom. Morocco has historically been a chain of kingdoms that varied in territorial sovereignty. Absolutely none of them have ever ruled or owned Western Sahara. In fact, their Southern borders have been some 300 to 400 km far from the current Northern border of Western Sahara. But, most of these Kingdoms, and especially the actual Family have always had expansionist tendencies and territorial ambitions and claims in all the neighboring countries (Algeria, Mauritania and Spain). It should be recalled here that the Moroccan King tried to invade parts of Algeria (the famous Sands War in October 1963) a few months after Algiers gained its independence. The Kingdom also refused, for 9 years, to recognize the independence of Mauritania.
Four, the crucial reason that ignited the late King Hassan II’s decision to invade Western Sahara in 1975 was nothing less than fear of his army, after he was a victim of two dangerous military coups in July 1971 and August 1972. In fact, the rule of Hassan II, who can be considered the real builder of the modern Moroccan Kingdom, has been threatened by more than 20 political or military coups, according to recent reports by Moroccan Press. The king needed to find a way to get rid of his army by keeping it busy with a colonial adventure in Western Sahara, and at the same time try to impose a colonial fait accompli and exploit the rich neighboring territory.
Five, most of us often forget that the Moroccan Kingdom and the current Monarchic Family is and has been the protégé of France since 1912. In fact, the throne of this family was threatened by various Moroccan revolutions since 1911. The Moroccan people were then criticizing the complicity of the ruling family with the French colonial power. The Moroccan elite even dethroned one of the grandfathers of the current king, who immediately handed over the country to France for protection. This is why France didn’t colonize Morocco; rather, it was a Protectorate. It was France that built the roots and bases of the modern Moroccan Monarchy. Morocco was and is still a country under the political, economic and even cultural influence of France.
Six, within this same plot of complicity with the West, it was the duty of Morocco to never let the newly independent and revolutionary state of Algeria become a dominant power in North Africa. This is one of the geo-strategic reasons France supports the Moroccan invasion followed by the occupation of Western Sahara. To this date, the French political class has never been able to overcome the chock of total independence of Algeria from the French colonial Empire. And by the way, the politics of what is well known as the France-Afrique is still dominating huge parts of our continent, and many French-speaking countries are still under the influence and authority of Paris.
These are, more or less, some of the main motives for the Moroccan invasion and occupation of Western Sahara. This occupation not only hinders my people’s emancipation and prosperity but it also hinders all the efforts and dreams of the North African States to join forces and form a strong and unified region (within the African Union). Knowing that if North Africa really unified it can compete with the South European countries, and become even more developed given that we have everything in the eight countries of North Africa (Morocco, Algeria, Sahrawi Republic, Mauritania, Tunis, Libya and Egypt). But of course, France and the West will never let us unite, neither in North Africa nor the Continent as a whole.