2025 marks the 50th anniversary of the beginning of the contemporary struggle of the Sahrawi people for their liberation and national self-determination after the 1975 signing by Spain of a secret deal to divide Western Sahara between its two neighbours, Mauritania and Morocco, following on from the popular struggle against the colonial fascist regime of Caudillo General Francisco Franco.
Western Sahara has yet to achieve its independence and has been widely dubbed “Africa’s last colony”*.
In an exclusive, H.E. MOHAMED YASLEM BEISSAT, Ambassador of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic to South Africa, spoke to Liberation about the current situation with the Sahrawi struggle and how progressives in Britain and elsewhere can help.
Please could you give us a brief overview of the current situation now in the occupied Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (Western Sahara) and the struggle of its people?
Comrade Mohamed Yaslem Beissat: First of all, thank you very much… I am so honoured to be interviewed by an epic newspaper that contributed largely in the liberation and decolonisation of many peoples in the globe and who gave the voice and the stage for many freedom fighters from Africa, Latin America, and many other places. It is my honour to be with you. Thank you, comrades.
This year, 2025, will mark the 50th anniversary of the start of the struggle of the Sahrawi people in 1975… The new [contemporary] phase of the struggle of the Sahrawi people to be precise, when Spain signed the illegal, shameful, and secret deal to divide our country between our two neighbours [Mauritania and Morocco] in 1975. Before that, we had been in the struggle against the Spanish fascist regime of Francisco Franco.
Then after his [Franco’s] demise [in 1975], Juan Carlos [King Juan Carlos I of Spain] and his government of transition did this shameful trade and transactional agreement with Morocco to divide our country. So, we have continued since then, until now… There were 16 years of war until 1991, when we reached an agreement for the organising of a referendum, which was a compromise. We agreed to the holding of a referendum to give a voice to the Sahrawis to choose between independence and integration with Morocco.
Unfortunately, Morocco and its allies among the Western countries – especially the United States, France, and Spain – were not very keen [on the terms of the UN-brokered 1991 agreement/ceasefire] and they helped Morocco to [abrogate] get out of the agreement it had signed. This led to Morocco becoming more arrogant, belligerent, and hawkish. Then, in 2020, Morocco occupied even more of our [previously] liberated territory, opened more roads towards Mauritania, and fired rockets upon our freedom fighters and our civilian population in the liberated territory. That led Polisario**, in an absolutely legal and normal act of self-defence, to resume the armed struggle against the Moroccan occupation of our country.
So, since November 2020, we have been engaged in a daily war between the Sahrawi army [Polisario Front] and the Moroccan army on all fronts of the Berm***… You know, Morocco has built the longest berm in the world – 2,700 kilometres long – from southern Morocco to the north of Mauritania.
Since then, our two armies have been engaged in a war, while Morocco has denied that there is a war. Indeed, we were surprised when, in the address of Morocco to the General Assembly of the United Nations in New York last September [2024], the prime minister of Morocco, in front of the international community, was requesting a ceasefire. On the one hand, Morocco is denying there is a war. And on the other, it is asking for a ceasefire… Which, of course, is very contradictory.
Our position today remains as it was before… We have no problem with a ceasefire, but that ceasefire cannot be the only item on the agenda. A ceasefire is welcome if it is in preparation for the referendum… You know, there is the matter of the referendum, the repatriation of refugees, as well as the liberation of political detainees and prisoners of war… There are a lot of other elements that would need to be included in the package.
Morocco cannot just choose what suits them, which is a ceasefire, and forget about the political, humanitarian, and military aspects of the conflict. Right now, this is where we are. Morocco wants a ‘flying in the air’ [‘no strings attached’] ceasefire without being linked to other aspects of the conflict, while the position of the Sahrawi public, also of the African Union, is that negotiation between the two countries laying the ground for a new ceasefire should be a precursor towards the holding of a referendum on self-determination in accordance with the “Silencing the Guns” resolution adopted by the African Union at its summit in Johannesburg.
Mr. [Staffan] de Mistura, the envoy of the United Nations, is trying to mediate and organise direct talks, as stipulated in the resolution of the Security Council of the United Nations, but Morocco is again trying to place preconditions on who they will talk with, how the talks should go, and what the aim of the talks will be… They only want to talk about a ceasefire, while the resolution of the Security Council is for direct negotiations without preconditions to reach a mutually acceptable political solution which will provide for self-determination [as the endpoint] and not the ceasefire as Morocco claims.
What would you say in response to any suggestion that the Sahrawi struggle has been latterly forgotten or at least overlooked?
MYB: What makes a struggle [either] visible or forgotten depends on how committed those people involved are to the struggle… We cannot take the mainstream media as a criterion on these matters, for the mainstream media – owing to its ownership, prevailing ideology, and background in colonialism – has never supported any movement such as ours around the world. The Sahrawi people have never forsaken their struggle… The majority of our people engaged in the struggle, with the Polisario Front, whether in the occupied territory where there is daily action and defiance of the colonial and occupation powers; or outside of it, along the Berm, where Sahrawis engage in daily combat with the Moroccan forces; or in the liberated territory and the refugee camps where the Sahrawis are engaged in building their institutions, providing services and assistance to the people, delivering education services and goods; or on the diplomatic stage where in every meeting – whether African or international, the UN General Assembly, the Non-Aligned Movement, African Union and so on – the issue remains present. Now, thanks to Moroccan ‘diplomacy’ and its offensive, the issue is even in the mouths of Trump, Macron, and Sánchez… All because Morocco thinks it can push people to recognise its sovereignty [over the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic], serving only to raise the profile of the conflict and struggle. And the Sahrawi people, 50 years after the occupation by Morocco, are present, united, stronger, visible, as well as present everywhere [in every arena] in the international community.
What are the key aims and aspirations of the Polisario Front for the Sahrawi people?
MYB: The Polisario Front is a large coalition of all the Sahrawis who believe in the right to freedom, self-determination, and the independence of the Sahrawi people. Polisario’s aim and raison d’être is to secure the rights of the Sahrawi people to control their homeland, to have a say about their own future, and to make sure the inalienable rights of the Sahrawi people are respected, whether by the Moroccan occupation or the international community.
What are the implications, if any, of the Trump II administration for the Sahrawi struggle?
MYB: Well, we have been through this before in the 1980s when Ronald Reagan came to power. His minister [Secretary of Defence], Caspar Weinberger, visited Western Sahara, provided armaments to Morocco, assisted the building of the Berm along which we are fighting now. Then the Reagan administration banned organisations like the ANC [African National Congress, South Africa] and SWAPO [South West African People’s Organisation Party, Namibia], labelled them as terrorist organisations, and closed their offices in New York and Washington […] And then the very same administration oversaw the signing of the independence of Namibia and the celebration of the democratic elections in South Africa. You know, I think the pushiness and the over aggressive actions by these powers will backfire when they face the reality on the ground and thus oblige them to take the right course of direction. That has always been the case. They think it is easy… Push, push, push! And this solidarity of the [Western countries] with Morocco… It is not because Morocco is strong, but it is out of fear for the survival of this regime and its dictatorial grip on the lives of the Moroccan population. We are very hopeful that this administration [Trump II] will, in the end, realise that there can be no peace in the Maghreb or in North Africa without respecting the legitimate aspirations of the Sahrawi people. But, until then, we will continue the struggle. This is our land! We have a verdict [UN and international recognition of the right of the Sahrawi people to self-determination] in our hands, we have our arms, and we have the support and unity of our people.
With International Women’s Day just around the corner, please could you give an overview of the celebrated role of Sahrawi women in the national struggle of your people?
MYB: Women are the pillars, the cornerstone of Sahrawi society and, by consequence, of the Sahrawi struggle. Indeed, Polisario became the dominant political power in Western Sahara thanks to the strong backing it received from Sahrawi women right from its foundation in 1973. Women have had a massive role in Polisario and in transforming it into the most dominant force and legitimate representative of the Sahrawi people. But that comes from history… Sahrawi women have always been the pillars of the family, the pillars of the society, the ones who have actively taken, motivated, and lead the society. Today, as we speak, women constitute almost 90% of the local and regional leadership positions and somewhere in the region of 40% in the national leadership roles. Women are prominent in education, in health, in the army, in parliament, in government, as well as in the local, municipal, and regional councils… Predominantly women! Sahrawi women have been the driving force in the occupied territory, in the liberated territory, and in the refugee camps. We are truly blessed to have such strong, voiceful, and resilient women in our society and by consequence in our organisation, Polisario.
What can the peoples of imperialist countries, including Britain, do to support the ongoing struggle of the Sahrawi people?
MYB: The injustice can continue only owing to the ignorance of good citizens! Once the good people, the peoples of the world, know about [become aware of] the injustice then its demise begins. So, we really encourage every citizen, every peace-loving and justice-loving person to be aware, to be engaged, to write, and to participate in the ending of this long injustice. A long Calvary [experience of intense anguish and suffering], that is how our people have been living for 50 years. Everyone [Western power] has tried to uphold Morocco… They gave them arms. They gave them diplomatic backing. They gave them political backing. They tried everything in their books to support Morocco to finish the issue [the occupation of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic] this way. Now, after 50 years, they must reach the normal [inescapable] conclusion. This situation will not end unless our people are respected, and the Sahrawi’s legitimate and inalienable rights are satisfied. So let us try the righteous way, the real way, the legal way, and the moral way, which is to give the Sahrawi people the right to choose what they want… For they are the sole owners of their territory, the sole owners of their resources, and the sole owners of their future and destiny.
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* While Western Sahara is the last colony on the African mainland, the situation regarding the Chagos Archipelago and the continuing presence of the joint UK-US military base on the island of Diego Garcia, following the expulsion of the local Chagossian population in the 1970s, remains a contentious issue of Britain’s own colonial legacy.
** The Polisario Front, or simply Polisario, from the Spanish acronym of Frente Popular de Liberación de Saguía el Hamra y Río de Oro (Popular Front for the Liberation of Saguia el-Hamra and Río de Oro)
*** The Berm, also referred to as the Moroccan sand wall or the “Wall of Shame”, is 2,700 km long: 12 times the length of the Berlin Wall and four times that of the West Bank wall. It is second in length only to the Great Wall of China. It is manned by an estimated 120,000 Moroccan troops.
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H.E. Ambassador Mohamed Yaslem Beissat has been a passionate advocate for the Sahrawi national liberation struggle ever since he became a student leader in 1985. Born in El Aaiún (also known as Laayoune) in Western Sahara, he has held numerous significant political and diplomatic positions, including Minister Delegate for African Affairs, Latin America, and the Caribbean; Acting Representative for Europe; Head of Mission in Washington DC; as well as Ambassador to Algeria, and South Africa (his current position). He has also represented the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic multiple times at various international fora and institutions, including the African Union; the Caribbean Community (CARICOM); the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM); and the United Nations.
