Rabat – Morocco thwarted on Tuesday an exhibition challenging the country’s territorial integrity at the UN headquarters in New York.
The UN Secretariat dismantled the exhibition, “50 Years, 50 Faces, Sahrawi Exile: A Life of Resilience.” The organizers include a shrinking list of countries that continue to adopt outdated narratives that challenge Morocco’s territorial integrity and sovereignty over its southern provinces in Western Sahara.
At the top of the list comes Algeria’s regime, which hosts the Polisario’s leadership and allows it, under its watch, to oppress Sahrawis inside a deserted area called the Tindouf camps, where anemia and other diseases linked to malnutrition continue to weigh down on residents’ health.
Despite UN concerns, Algeria’s regime continues to object to a census in the camps. According to former Polisario members, Algeria’s refusal is driven by its fear that Sahrawis account for less than 20% of the population in the camps, while 80% are from the Tuareg community and Algeria itself.
Algeria also obstructs the UN-led political process by rejecting a direct role in the dispute and claiming it is merely an observer.
Last year, however, the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 2797, which gave momentum to the political process, emphasizing the centrality and exclusivity of the Autonomy Plan as a basis for negotiations to resolve the dispute.
It also ended the ambiguity, naming Algeria as a main party to the dispute and urging it to engage in the political process and contribute to finding a mutually acceptable political solution.
The organizers also include Namibia, Uganda, Timor-Leste, Belize, and South Africa, which all adopt anti-Moroccan rhetoric, especially Pretoria, which continues to neglect internal crises, including racism against migrants.
Morocco’s efforts within the UN enabled the country to thwart the exhibition, which the UN Secretariat dismantled just hours after it was set up. The exhibition was scheduled to run from October 27 to 30, coinciding with the UN Security Council meeting on Friday to vote on a new resolution on Western Sahara.
The vote is expected to mark a breakthrough in support of Morocco’s Autonomy Plan and position in the dispute. A draft resolution, which was amended from the version of October 20 that was circulated among Security Council members, is expected to rename MINURSO (the peacekeeping operation in Western Sahara) to MINUSO.
The name change would see the resolution removing any reference to a referendum, a new blow to Algeria’s regime.
The new resolution is also set to reinforce the Moroccan position, especially the Autonomy Plan as the basis and framework to end the dispute over Western Sahara.
The Algeria-backed exhibition sought to exploit the suffering of populations held in Tindouf on the eve of the adoption of the Security Council resolution on the Sahara.
It also featured photographs and messages with openly political overtones, in violation of the rules governing events held within the UN premises.
Morocco’s Mission to the UN denounced the political messages, providing supporting evidence, and the UN Secretariat dismantled the exhibition on the same day.
Secretariat sources said the dismantling of the exhibition was “marked by aggressive behavior from several Algerian diplomats, who confronted Secretariat staff tasked with dismantling it,” Moroccan news agency MAP reported.
