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Rabat – Malawi is the latest to join a growing list of African countries to express support for Morocco’s November 13 operation to secure the Guerguerat border crossing.
Polisario elements began a blockade of the Moroccan-Mauritanian border crossing on October 21 and refused to leave the UN-monitored buffer zone despite repeated calls from the secretary-general’s office.
With the blockade stranding truck drivers at the post and disrupting vital trade, Morocco authorized a non-offensive operation to restore the flow of civil and commercial traffic through Guerguerat.
Countries and organizations from every continent have positively reacted to the decision.
Malawi on Monday welcomed Rabat’s “peaceful” and “decisive” action.
In a statement, the foreign ministry of the southeast African country stressed “its full support for the free movement of people and goods at this important border crossing.”
Malawi also vowed “to align itself with the efforts of the United Nations in the search for a political, diplomatic and lasting solution to the question of the Moroccan Sahara.”
To conclude, the ministry said Malawi recognizes “the peaceful efforts undertaken by Morocco in order to reach a lasting solution under the aegis of the UN, as explicitly stated in the resolutions of the Security Council.”
Morocco’s decision to act in Guerguerat to preserve its sovereignty and security, in compliance with its international obligations and with full respect for the 1991 ceasefire, earned the country widespread support.
Malawi was once an ally of Polisario but withdrew its recognition of the self-proclaimed Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) in May 2017.
Read also: Former Polisario Ally Malawi Reiterates Support for Morocco
A total of 17 African countries voiced support for Morocco’s Guerguerat operation: Comoros, the Central African Republic, Sao Tome and Principe, Djibouti, Gabon, Eswatini, The Gambia, Equatorial Guinea, Somalia, Guinea-Bissau, Zambia, Benin, Chad, Senegal, Mali, Liberia, and now Malawi.
In the Americas and the Caribbean, Morocco’s supporters include Brazil, Colombia, Guatemala, Paraguay, Panama, and Haiti.
Many Middle Eastern countries also rallied behind Morocco, including the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Yemen, Egypt, and Jordan.
In the wake of the Guerguerat crisis, Jordan announced its decision to open a consulate general in Laayoune, southern Morocco. The move is a clear testament to Jordan’s recognition of Morocco’s sovereignty over Western Sahara.
In total, 15 African countries and the UAE have inaugurated diplomatic representations in the southern Moroccan cities of Dakhla and Laayoune.
