Morocco is intensifying its efforts to legitimize its contested claim over Western Sahara – gaining support from powerful nations at the expense of the Sahrawi people’s right to self-determination. On June 1, the United Kingdom officially endorsed Morocco’s 2007 autonomy proposal for Western Sahara.
The announcement came after a high-profile visit by the UK’s Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, David Lammy, to Rabat, where he signed multiple investment agreements with his Moroccan counterpart, Minister of Foreign Affairs Nasser Bourita.
The agreements not only strengthen bilateral economic relations but also show broader geopolitical motivations, particularly as Morocco prepares to co-host the 2030 FIFA Men’s World Cup alongside Spain and Portugal. With its endorsement, the United Kingdom becomes the third permanent member of the United Nations Security Council along with the United States and France, to back Morocco’s “autonomy plan”.
The Western Sahrawi right to self-determination
The Sahrawi people have been engaged in a decades-long struggle for their right to self-determination. First against Spain and then, since 1976, Morocco. Western Sahara was listed by the UN in 1963 as a non-self-governing territory, and the International Court of Justice in 1975 affirmed the Sahrawi people’s right to a free and fair referendum.
Read more: Ahead of UN session, Sahrawis recollect decades of betrayal that enabled Moroccan colonization
Yet, in 1976, Spain ceded the country to Morocco at the persuasion of the US, despite the fact that the International Court of Justice (ICJ) had dismissed Morocco’s territorial claims. The position supporting the Sahrawi peoples’ right to self-determination has since been upheld by the UN, the AU, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), and the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights (AfCHPR).
MINURSO was established by the UNSC in April 1991 to facilitate the realization of this right by organizing a referendum. In August of that year, a ceasefire was secured between the Polisario Front (PF), recognized by the UN as the international representative of the people of Sahrawi, and Morocco. On November 13, 2020, the ceasefire fell apart after 29 years.
Today, despite long-standing international legal consensus, Morocco’s sustained lobbying – backed by economic diplomacy and growing regional influence – appears to be gaining traction, even among African countries that once strongly supported SADR.
Kenya’s sudden reversal of SADR support
Last week, Kenya made a surprising policy U-turn by opening an embassy in Rabat – Morocco’s capital – and retracting its previous support for the Sahrawi Republic in favor of Morocco’s plan. In exchange, Kenya reportedly secured new investments in agriculture and renewable energy from Rabat. A poignant example of how powerful economic incentives are being used by Morocco in reshaping its African diplomacy.
Kenya, like Ghana and all vocal supporters of decolonization and Sahrawi independence within the African Union (AU), had recognized the SADR as a full member state of the continental body. Its abrupt shift now raises questions about the coherence of AU positions on sovereignty and anti-colonial solidarity.
Kamal Fadel, the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic’s representative to Australia and New Zealand, in an interview with People Dispatch expressed deep concern over this trend.
“Kenya’s apparent shift of position is surprising and regrettable,” Fadel stated. “It risks fracturing the African Union’s unified stance, potentially weakening its collective voice advocating for self-determination and respect for colonial-era borders.”
Fadel was equally critical of the UK’s recent announcement, asserting that it indirectly legitimizes Morocco’s occupation while undermining international law.
“While the UK’s statement seems sympathetic to Morocco’s autonomy proposal, it crucially stops short of recognizing Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara. This nuanced stance preserves diplomatic space for future negotiations and doesn’t explicitly preclude other solutions. Nevertheless, even partial support for Morocco’s autonomy proposal conflicts with established international law, UN and African Union resolutions, and the fundamental principle of self-determination.”
The 2007 Moroccan autonomy plan proposes limited self-governance for Western Sahara under Moroccan sovereignty – an approach that violates UN resolutions and the Sahrawi people’s right to choose full independence through a UN-led referendum.
Is the UN’s mandate in jeopardy?
The growing alignment of major powers with Morocco’s plan also threatens to weaken the credibility of the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO). Established in 1991 to oversee a ceasefire and organize a referendum, MINURSO has yet to fulfill its mandate after more than three decades.
“Regrettably, the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) and the broader UN framework have fallen short of their mandate,” Fadel asserted. “MINURSO must apply meaningful pressure on Morocco and prioritize enabling the Sahrawi people to exercise their inalienable right to self-determination … It is essential to reemphasize that the Western Sahara question fundamentally remains an incomplete decolonization process, and the UN has a direct and moral responsibility to conclude it according to its charter, relevant resolutions and decolonisation historical precedents.”
Morocco’s economic offensive in Africa
Morocco’s return to the African Union in 2017, after decades of self-imposed exile, signaled a strategic shift – from rejection to engagement. Since then, Rabat has deployed a calculated policy of economic engagement and high-level diplomacy to woo AU member states. Development aid, agricultural investment, and energy cooperation have become central to this charm offensive.
According to Fadel, these moves should be seen in light of Morocco’s internal vulnerabilities.
“Morocco’s increased diplomatic and economic marketing and lobbying in Africa through trade deals and aid may appear influential, but underlying this image are significant domestic challenges. The country faces severe economic distress, political instability linked to the monarchy’s uncertain succession, and widespread social dissatisfaction due to limited political freedoms and poverty … Despite Morocco’s attempts to leverage economic promises as diplomatic currency, history shows these promises rarely materialize.”
A coordinated isolation of SADR?
“Morocco is pursuing a deliberate campaign to undermine SADR’s legitimacy,” Fadel explained. “But African solidarity, shaped by shared anti-colonial struggles, still remains resilient.”
Indeed, while Morocco has made inroads, the majority of African states continue to support the Sahrawi people’s right to independence and self-determination, recognizing SADR as a full AU member.
The role of progressive African movements
Amidst these shifts, Fadel says the importance of civil society, intellectuals, and progressive movements across Africa in resisting what he described as the “normalization of colonial occupation under the guise of trade and diplomacy.”
“It is imperative for African voices to challenge this normalization and reinforce the legal and moral legitimacy of the Sahrawi struggle,” he said. “Africa’s liberation history must not be forgotten or betrayed.”
As Western Sahara remains one of the last unresolved colonial questions, the choices African states make today will have lasting implications – not just for the Sahrawi people, but for the continent’s collective integrity in upholding justice, sovereignty, and the legacy of anti-colonial struggle.
