If our national authorities were certain that this tripartite understanding, concluded between Morocco, Mauritania, and Spain as the colonial power, complied with the requirements of international law, they would not have signed the Algiers Agreement of August 1979.
Exactly because our cousins from Tindouf (the Polisario Front) and those within, not yet independent, Río de Oro and Saguia Al-Hamra, opposed the presence of our armed forces and ‘’Extraterritorial’’ Administration that it had become urgent to leave the premises, not without regret.
In truth, had colonization not drawn these arbitrary lines, nothing could have separated the Reguibat, the Ould Delim, the Tekna, and the other tribes of Mauritania from those of the Sahara, nor split their shared territory in two.
However, for Mauritanians now advocating a return to the Madrid Accords after a 50-year renunciation, it is prudent to recall the UN's position: the Madrid Accords did not transfer sovereignty over Western Sahara because the consent of the Sahrawis was never obtained. This consent remains absolutely crucial given their inalienable right to self-determination, which must be expressed freely and transparently through a referendum.
Furthermore, the International Court of Justice (ICJ), in its advisory opinion of October 16, 1975, affirmed the existence of legal ties and allegiance between the Mauritanian entity and the territory of Western Sahara prior to Spanish colonization in 1884. Nevertheless, the Court concluded that these bonds did not constitute ties of territorial sovereignty that could exclude the application of the principle of self-determination.
In short, Mauritania paid a heavy human and financial price during its years of involvement in the war. After more than forty years of geostrategic realism and peace, is it truly wise for our nation to get involved once again in this fratricidal conflict?
As for our Moroccan brothers, despite the deadlock over the UN referendum and the stagnation of the autonomy plan, a favourable outcome remains possible.
Guided by a shared commitment, Moroccans and Sahrawis can still forge a just, lasting, and mutually beneficial resolution.
Ultimately, Algeria, the Sahrawi Republic, Morocco, and Mauritania must realize that the region’s future depends on integration rather than fragmentation. After all, we need only look across the Mediterranean to see the example of the European Union right at our doorstep.
Ely Ould Sneiba
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