Washington, 29 July 2025 (SPS) – The American news outlet Break Through News shed light on recent developments in Western Sahara, Africa’s last colony, and Morocco’s strategy against the Sahrawi people through "systematic repression" and the plundering of resources in the occupied territory.
The channel’s program "Margin of Freedom" hosted Mahjoub Maliha, the Foreign Relations Officer of the Sahrawi Human Rights Defenders Collective (CODESA) in Western Sahara. Under the title "Systematic Dismantling and Comprehensive Resistance," the discussion addressed Morocco’s decades-long occupation of Western Sahara, unilateral positions supporting its alleged "sovereignty," and the grave human rights violations against Sahrawis.
Regarding some countries and individuals backing Morocco’s colonial proposal, Mahjoub Maliha asserted that it is "nothing more than part of the Moroccan occupation’s political propaganda, promoting individual stances extracted through methods that time will expose." He added, "This seems to have become the Moroccan regime’s favorite tactic in dealing with the Western Sahara issue."
At the same time, the Sahrawi rights activist noted that "international courts, including the Court of Justice of the European Union, have settled the matter, confirming that Morocco has no sovereignty over Western Sahara and that the Sahrawi people hold exclusive sovereignty over the territory and its natural resources."
The speaker also emphasized that "the Moroccan occupation exploits the looting of Western Sahara’s resources to gain superficial support from certain international actors through bribery and buying loyalties—positions that are fleeting and subject to change." He stressed that "any economic activities in occupied Western Sahara must obtain the approval of the Sahrawi people or their legitimate representative, the Polisario Front."
He continued, "Morocco illegally exploits Western Sahara’s natural resources, not only to sustain its military occupation through various means—primarily by funding its military presence—but also by involving international actors in what we call ‘the internationalization of occupation by implicating multinational entities.’"
The rights defender further highlighted that Morocco "uses natural resources to alter the demographic structure of Western Sahara by bringing in thousands of Moroccan settlers." Despite rulings from the European Court of Justice, he noted, "the European Union remains complicit in the plunder of Western Sahara’s natural resources."
The activist also extensively addressed Morocco’s human rights violations in occupied Western Sahara and its persistent targeting of activists demanding the right to self-determination, as upheld by international law. He affirmed that the Sahrawi people will continue their struggle until full sovereignty over all their lands is achieved.
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