Tags : Western Sahara, France, complicity, Morocco, Giscard d’Estaing, François Mittérand, Frente Polisario, decolonization, self-determination,
By Quentin Müller
A strategic economic partner of France, Morocco tries as best as it can to formalize its control over Western Sahara. This vast territory located south of its borders, about half the size of mainland France, is rich in fish, sand, and phosphate, which many countries exploit despite international law. To achieve this, Rabat can boast of France’s complicity, where both the right and the left exhibit complacency with Morocco.
By visiting Morocco at the end of February, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Stéphane Séjourné, aimed to warm up Franco-Moroccan relations, which had been strained by post-earthquake diplomatic tensions. Last September, Rabat had rejected French state aid (as well as that of other nations), showing a preference for countries that had shown more enthusiasm in recognizing Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara. The Moroccan press subsequently launched a vehement attack on Emmanuel Macron, even going as far as writing about his alleged sexuality.
The pressure exerted on the French government, without any particular triggering event, aimed to remind Paris of Rabat’s impatience regarding unilateral recognition of Western Sahara as Moroccan territory. The United States under Donald Trump and Israel had already taken this step in 2020 and 2023, respectively. However, France has never had a balanced and neutral position in this five-decade-old territorial conflict.
France under Giscard supported the Moroccan invasion of Western Sahara
Colonized by Spain at the end of the 19th century, Western Sahara was long just a colonial outpost, whose strategic Atlantic coast could secure the Canary Islands. Development there was almost non-existent. Sahrawi graduates were few and far between. Meanwhile, Madrid had developed the fishing and phosphate industries, the wealth of this space populated by predominantly nomadic tribes, living off their herds and moving according to rainfall cycles.
As in every colonized territory, not all Sahrawi tribes accepted the occupant, and clashes erupted between 1957 and 1958. The government of Félix Gaillard then launched Operation Écouvillon. 5,000 men and 70 combat planes were deployed. The Sahrawi tribes were supported… by Morocco, which had just gained independence. The Southern National Liberation Army (SNLA) aimed to hasten Spain’s departure from Western Sahara. In 1973, this Sahrawi resistance against the Spanish occupiers was named the Polisario Front (PF).
In 1975, when Franco’s Spain left Western Sahara, Mauritania and Morocco divided the territory by mutual agreement without consulting the indigenous people. In exchange, Madrid negotiated the retention of economic interests in the area. The agreement included exclusive access to fishing from the Saharan coast and the retention of 35% of Spanish shares in the phosphate exploitation company Phosboucraa.
Paris observed this division of Western Sahara without intervening, even supporting the Moroccan military invasion in the north. The Moroccan air force bombed the Polisario and fleeing Sahrawi civilians, using napalm and white phosphorus. President Giscard d’Estaing’s calculation was strategic: a Western Sahara under Moroccan control would be more easily exploitable by French companies than an independent Western Sahara aligned with a socialist Algeria, which had become a leader of non-aligned countries.
Operation Lamentin and Danielle Mitterrand
However, France also worried about its economic interests in Mauritania. Engaged in the invasion of Southern Western Sahara, the Mauritanian army faced significant difficulties against the Polisario, which did not hesitate to attack its mining town of Zouerate, located near the border. Rich in iron, the mines were also exploited by French collaborators, two of whom were killed in May 1977 during a Polisario attack that also resulted in eight prisoners during several offensives.
France then reacted with « Operation Lamentin » to support the struggling Mauritanian army. However, it failed, as in July 1978, Moktar Ould Daddah, President of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, was overthrown in a coup orchestrated by the army commander. His successor began a gradual withdrawal from Western Sahara to end the costly war against the Polisario.
The rise to power of François Mitterrand raised hope. In his 110 proposals for France, the candidate demanded the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan, criticized US support for Latin American dictatorships, called for the rights of the Palestinian people to have a homeland, for Chadian independence, for respect for Cambodia’s sovereignty, and for support for the self-determination rights of the Sahrawi people. But apart from a canceled visit to the Sahrawi refugee camps by Danielle Mitterrand, rescheduled as a meeting with Mohamed Abdelaziz, leader of the Polisario, nothing concrete emerged.
In 1991, a Polisario ceasefire was obtained in exchange for the promise of a referendum, organized under the auspices of the United Nations Mission for the Organization of a Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO).
The Sahrawi people then had the opportunity to finally be consulted and to choose between being an integral part of the Moroccan monarchy or being independent. But disagreements, particularly over eligible voters, arose between the Polisario Front and Rabat. To ensure victory, Morocco then proposed a list of 83,971 voters living in the occupied zone. However, after investigation, MINURSO concluded that only half of them were Sahrawis with historical roots.
The others were Moroccan settlers, coached by Rabat to pass as natives and thus vote against independence. Their lack of mastery of the « Hassaniya » Sahrawi dialect, the absence of Sahrawi identity papers, or knowledge of local tribal customs excluded them from the voting process.
France supported an expansion of the voting body by including some Sahrawi refugee populations, particularly in Algeria. But Paris did not pressure Morocco to ensure the implementation of the vote. The release of Gilles Perrault’s book « Our Friend the King » had a bombshell effect, and the diplomatic rift was too strong.
Self-interested complacency towards Morocco
Francesco Bastagli, Special Representative of the United Nations for Western Sahara (2005-2007), recalls that « the French position has often been one of the most extreme in rejecting any commitment, except those that supported the Moroccan position. Not only on the political front but also on issues related to human rights (in the part of Western Sahara occupied by Morocco), the exploitation of Sahrawi national resources, and all Moroccan violations of international law. »
Both left and right, France has thus maintained a position that is not very favorable to the Sahrawi cause. In 2011, on the brink of power, the Socialist Party, through Jean-Marc Ayrault, responded in writing to the Association of Friends of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, as excerpted from the book « Fighting in the Sahara. From Colonialism to Independence in Western Sahara »: « Everything must be done to allow the Sahrawis to freely express their will under the control of international organizations. Since the occupation of the territory by Morocco, Socialists, in their public statements, have maintained a position favoring respect for international law and the right to self-determination of colonized peoples. »
Despite this letter supporting the application of international law in favor of the Sahrawi people, in May 2012, the new Socialist president François Hollande received Moroccan King Mohammed VI and affirmed the Moroccan identity of Western Sahara. It was a new cold calculation, motivated by economic relations. Contacted, Jean-Marc Ayrault did not respond to Marianne’s requests.
For the past ten years, France has indeed positioned itself as the top investor in Morocco, representing an average of 22.3% of net investment flows. French foreign direct investment (FDI) revenues are concentrated at 27.3% in the real estate sector, followed by industry (23.9%), commerce (20.3%), and financial activities (10.5%). « France prefers to support Morocco rather than the Sahrawi people simply because Rabat is a key ally in French interests in Africa. That’s all there is to it, » reminds Francesco Bastagli.
« Moscovici’s stories will cost Europe 5 billion euros »
Pierre Moscovici, also a former political figure of the Socialist Party, seemed to prioritize economic interests. As European Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs, he renegotiated economic agreements with Morocco to extend them to Western Sahara to exploit the riches of this territory, despite it not being recognized by the international community as officially under Rabat’s control.
To achieve his goals, he proposed « consultations with the concerned populations, » without specifying which ones. Refugees in Algeria, Sahrawis in occupied territory, Moroccan settlers? Contacted by Marianne, Pierre Moscovici said he no longer remembered the dossier.
Since then, a ruling from the Luxembourg court has largely disapproved of the former European Commissioner’s adventurism. In 2021, he canceled two agreements on fishing and agriculture for non-compliance with Sahrawi « consent. »
However, the European Commission and the European Council contested the annulment. The results of the appeal are expected this summer. « Moscovici’s stories will lead to a liability lawsuit that will cost the European Union around 5 billion euros if we win, » warns Gilles Devers, lawyer for the Polisario Front. « Executing a commercial agreement that is canceled for violating the law is a fault that engages the EU’s responsibility for the entire prejudice suffered, namely the plundering of Sahrawi natural resources. » He continues: « The leaders of the Polisario Front (recognized as a legal entity representing the Sahrawis, giving it ‘the capacity to act before the judge of the Union’) daily quantify these stolen riches through commercial contracts of foreign countries with Morocco. They list everything to recover these amounts in court. Our estimates are based on figures published by the European Commission, which boasts about the results of this EU-Morocco agreement on the Sahara territory. »
To the left of the Socialist Party, France Insoumise, through the voice of Jean-Luc Mélenchon, also observes a stance unfavorable to the Sahrawi people. During a visit to Morocco in October 2023, the leader of France Insoumise said he supported Morocco’s plan for autonomy in Western Sahara.
The same plan is supported by the current Minister of Foreign Affairs, Stéphane Séjourné. A perspective strongly rejected by the Sahrawis, which stipulates in its point 14 that the Moroccan state « retains exclusive competence, notably with regard to: attributes of sovereignty, flag, national anthem and currency, attributions related to the constitutional and religious powers of the King, Commander of the Faithful and guarantor of freedom of worship and individual and collective freedoms, national security, external defense and territorial integrity, external relations, the judicial order of the Kingdom. »
Marianne, 15/03/2024
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