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US RECOGNISES MOROCCO SOVEREIGNTY OVER WESTERN SAHARA

14/12/2020 06:48:00 BY SIBONGILE SUKATI

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MBABANE – The United States of America has issued a proclamation recognising the sovereignty of the Kingdom of Morocco over Western Sahara.

This is the piece of land which now houses the new Eswatini Consulate General offices in Morocco under a disputed area in Western Sahara.

Several African countries have opened diplomatic missions to Morocco in Western Sahara, a disputed area occupied by Rabat. This has been exacerbating the conflict in an already volatile region seeking independence.

In October, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Thulisile Dladla, was captured by Moroccan media while unveiling both an Embassy of Eswatini and the office of the Consulate General in Rabat and Laayouone, respectively. However, Dladla said these were gifts to the country and everything was catered for by the Government of Morocco, courtesy of King Mohamed VI.

Direction

“Nge siSwati sipho awusali” said Dladla, which loosely means that according to Eswatini custom, one does not refuse a gift. She said His Majesty King Mswati III would give direction on the matter.

On the issue of the disputed area, the minister said Eswatini fully supported the ongoing political processes held under the United Nations Secretary General aimed at achieving a mutually acceptable and negotiated political solution to the regional dispute over the Moroccan Sahara.

“Eswatini supports the autonomy initiative presented by Morocco as a compromise solution,” said Dladla. The minister said the initiative was in conformity with the International law, the UN Charter and the General Assembly and Security Council resolutions.

The Western Sahara is considered by the United Nations to be one of the 17 territories that are still regarded as none self government areas, according to an expert on international relations, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

However, according to the Moroccan Government website, the Kingdom of Eswatini had in October opened a consulate general in Laayoune, which was the seventh diplomatic representation to be inaugurated in the city of the Moroccan Sahara in less than a year.

Meanwhile, in its statement, the US, through it’s outgoing President Donald Trump, affirmed its support for Morocco’s autonomy proposal as the only basis for a just and lasting solution to the dispute over the Western Sahara territory.

“Therefore, as of today, the United States recognises Moroccan sovereignty over the entire Western Sahara territory and reaffirms its support for Morocco’s serious, credible, and realistic autonomy proposal as the only basis for a just and lasting solution to the dispute over the Western Sahara territory,” reads Trumps statement issued last week.

The country stated that it believed that an independent Sahrawi State was not a realistic option for resolving the conflict and that genuine autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty was the only feasible solution.

Trump urged the parties to engage in discussions without delay, using Morocco’s autonomy plan as the only framework to negotiate a mutually acceptable solution.

Meanwhile, the events of the many embassies and consulates being dished out by Morocco have been described by DW News as ‘Morocco’s Foreign Minister, Nasser Bourita, appearing alongside one of his African counterparts smiling, cutting a ribbon, or solemnly unveiling a plaque — a symbol of friendship between their countries,’. It was stated that with each act of solidarity, a diplomatic step was taken and another African nation opened a consulate in western Sahara.

Mission

The buildings are reportedly surfacing rapidly and since the end of 2019, at 10 African States have opened diplomatic services in western Sahara under their mission to Rabat. The other countries which have opened the missions include Burkina Faso, Guinea-Bissau, Equatorial Guinea, Côte d’Ivoire, Comoros, Gabon, Sao Tome and Príncipe, Central African Republic, Burundi and Zambia. The Western Sahara is a former Spanish colony that extends over an area of 266 000 square kilometres, it witnessed an armed conflict until a ceasefire was declared in 1991 between Morocco, which annexed it in 1975, and the Polisario, which called for its independence, backed by Algeria. Morocco controls 80 per cent of the area. The United Nations (UN) has been calling for the independence and decolonisation of what was then the Spanish colony since the 1960s. All UN mediation has failed. Since the 1991 ceasefire, the Polisario Front had controlled a strip in the east and south of Western Sahara that borders Algeria to the northeast and extends to the Atlantic coast in the southwest. The site of conflict — declared the Saharan Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) by Polisario — is managed from exile in Algeria, which supports the liberation movement. Historically, Algeria has had a rocky relationship with Morocco. The new consulates in the controversial area, which the Moroccan Government in the capital Rabat calls its southern provinces, are politically charged. “This is an attempt by Morocco to have the illegal occupation of the territories recognised at all costs — it is indeed an illegal occupation,” said Yahia Zoubir, Professor of International Relations at Kedge Business School.

Agreement

The opening of the consulate came a day after Eswatini inaugurated its embassy in Rabat and signed an industrial cooperation agreement, as well as a joint declaration showing interest in growing a bilateral partnership in the field of health.

Zambia also opened a consulate general in Laayoune towards the end of October.

The two openings are part of Morocco’s vision to strengthen bilateral cooperation with its fellow African countries. According to the professor, the motivation for these African countries to support rich Morocco is obvious. The debate has been that countries like Eswatini are opening consulates in cities where they have no citizens whom they can offer services to. The international political analyst said countries like Eswatini, South Africa and Botswana, to mention a few, had always supported the decolonisation of countries which was a principle that guided how the countries related with the world.

The issue of the Western Sahara is currently on the UN Agenda where the Security Council deals with these issues.