Western Sahara News

TARIFA, Spain — In just two days this week, the Spanish authorities intercepted as many migrants trying to slip into the country by sea from Morocco as they had in all of last year, the Spanish Red Cross said. Waves of inflatable dinghies attempted to cross the Strait of Gibraltar on Monday and Tuesday, carrying people trying to enter Spain illegally. The influx was so great that the Spanish authorities, who brought the migrants here to this port city, converted two local sports centers into makeshift shelters. Then, just as suddenly as they started, the crossings dwindled to a trickle. By Wednesday, only a few boats were waylaid, and not a single one was encountered in Spanish waters on Thursday and Friday. Continue reading the main story RELATED COVERAGE Spanish analysts contend that the flow and ebb of illegal crossings was orchestrated by Morocco. While not directly acknowledging responsibility for the events, Mohamed Hasad, the Moroccan interior minister, did...

With the US-Africa Leaders Summit in full swing, much of the analysis on Morocco holds up the kingdom as a model for cautious, but essentially successful reform in the Middle East. Such analysis serves to underpin both United States and European policy, which is currently designed to support and maintain, rather than challenge, the kingdom's political order. Critically examining Morocco's record, however, shows that its reformist image is mostly undeserved, and its position as a potential regional model unearned. The Moroccan monarchy's response to popular demonstrations in late 2010 and early 2011 was essentially two-pronged. First, it violently dismantled protest camps in the Western Sahara and used extensive force against the activist February 20 movement. Second, it organized a referendum (under conditions that, having witnessed the voting process, I believe were questionable) on a new national constitution. The palace has successfully presented the adoption...

On August 4 Washington think tank the Atlantic Council held a presentation to publicize the release of “its new Issue in Focus report, ‘ Morocco’s Emergence as a Gateway to Businessin Africa ’ … coauthored by Africa Center Director J. Peter Pham and Senior Fellow Ricardo René Larémont. “ Moderated by Dr. Pham, panelists included H.E. Moulay Hafid Elalamy, minister of industry, trade, investment, and the digital economy for the Kingdom of Morocco; Mohamed El Kettani, chairman and CEO of Attijariwafa Bank; Karim Hajji, CEO of the Casablanca Stock Exchange; Nabil Habayeb, GE’s president and CEO of Middle East, North Africa and Turkey; H.E. Moustapha Ben Barka, minister of industry and propaganda investment promotion for the Republic of Mali. Despite the impressive economic star power here, the event amounted to little more than a Moroccan propaganda love fest and the Pham/Laremont report’s conclusion that Morocco provides a potential solution” for African “corruption, burd...

by Khalil Asmar Following the speech of July 30th celebrating 15 years of his reign, the Moroccan king once again is burying his head in the sand in an attempt to undermine the initiative to decolonize Western Sahara which the UN Security General recently declared. In effect, the king has announced what he called “the advanced regionalization” for his “southern provinces”, a term to describe the occupied Western Sahara, which will mark the beginning of implementation of his project of autonomy he announced in 2007. This one-sided move can be described as no more than the politics of running away from the facts and an intransigent attitude against international will. The UN resolution 2152 issued last April stressed the right of the people of Western Sahara to self-determination according to international law, while not even the slightest mention was afforded to Morocco’s plan of autonomy, which the Moroccan king is now aiming to implement. UN Resolution 2152 should therefor...

Hundreds of Dutch Moroccan youths are involved in at least six gangland killings in the Netherlands and Antwerp as well as a string of violent robberies, not just a few dozen as thought earlier, the Volkskrant reports on Thursday. The group includes drugs dealers, gunmen and 'facilitators' who are all linked to each other and live in both the Netherlands and Morocco, the paper quotes Amsterdam detectives as saying. The paper bases its claims on a police investigation into a string of gangland killings which began in 2012.  The robberies take place in the Netherlands and then the perpetrators move to Morocco which does not deport its nationals, the paper says. The money they earn through their crime spree is also taken out of the country. Tangiers Detectives claim between 25% and 33% of the new appartments under construction in Tangiers are funded with criminal proceeds.  Dutch detectives visit Morocco on a weekly basis as part of their investigation...