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United Nations
In 1979, Mauritania agreed to side with the Polisario and pull out of
Western Sahara. In response, Morocco began building a fortified wall
running diagonally through the territory. The Polisario now controls the
smaller area south and east of the wall, and Morocco controls the rest.
Throughout the 1980s,the Polisario fought a guerrilla war with Moroccan
forces. Finally, in 1991, both sides agreed to accept a UN peace plan. The
plan called for a cease-fire and a referendum.The referendum would offer
the people of Western Sahara a choice between becoming an official
province of Morocco and independence.
As of 2014, no referendum had taken place in Western Sahara. The
difficulty has been in determining who is eligible to vote. After the cease-
fire, Morocco began sending settlers into the territory. The question raised
is whether these people should be allowed to vote on the future of a
region they have lived in for only a short time. Morocco has also ignored
the UN’s requests for a referendum, since it claims such a vote would be
unnecessary.The United Nations is still working hard to find an acceptable
plan for the future of Western Sahara and a resolution to the conflicts
between Morocco and the Polisario.
In April 2014,the Security Council reaffirmed all its previous resolutions
on Western Sahara and reiterated its call for all parties and neighboring
states to find an acceptable solution to the decades-old problem.
* * *
Clearly, the process of decolonization is not always simple. People and
nations often have very different views as to the best future for a territory.
These differences of opinion can lead to violence and also contribute to
the unique situations facing each of the Non-Self-Governing Territories on
their way to self-determination.