London, Britain, August 27, 2026 (SPS) – International media outlets have shed light on the reality of the conflict in Western Sahara, highlighting the legal nature of the issue as a matter of decolonization and exposing attempts by the Moroccan occupation to consolidate a policy of fait accompli in the occupied territory, including through investment and tourism projects and the exploitation of natural resources.
In this context, the British magazine The Week published an extensive article examining the legal background of the Western Sahara issue, noting that the United Nations classifies the territory as a Non-Self-Governing Territory whose decolonization process has not yet been completed.
The magazine addressed Rabat’s efforts to impose a policy of fait accompli in the occupied territory through investment and tourism projects, citing the activities taking place in the city of Dakhla in this regard. It noted that many tourists who fly to the region may be unaware that they are arriving in an area affected by “one of the world’s longest-running conflicts.”
For its part, the US-based ZNetwork website examined the historical roots and developments of the Western Sahara issue, tracing its evolution from Spanish colonial rule to Morocco’s invasion of Western Sahara in 1975 and the subsequent outbreak of armed struggle led by the Polisario Front.
The website highlighted the Sahrawi people’s continued wait for a UN-sponsored referendum on self-determination, amid what it described as Moroccan maneuvers that have prevented this entitlement from being fulfilled.
In an interview conducted by the website with the Polisario Front’s representative in Catalonia, Mohamed Salem Ahmed Labied, the Sahrawi diplomat addressed Morocco’s attempts to impose a policy of fait accompli in occupied Western Sahara. He noted that the Polisario Front, the legitimate representative of the Sahrawi people, resumed the armed struggle on November 13, 2020, following Morocco’s violation of the ceasefire in the Guerguerat area.
The Sahrawi official referred to the findings of the UN fact-finding mission that visited the territory in May 1975, which concluded that there was “a consensus among the inhabitants of the occupied territory in favor of freedom and independence.”
He added that Morocco “obstructs the organization of a self-determination referendum, strengthens its military presence, exploits natural resources, and practices repression in the occupied territories.”
At the conclusion of the interview, the Polisario Front representative stressed that the Polisario Front’s main demands are “respect for international law and the resolutions of the United Nations and the African Union, and guaranteeing the Sahrawi people’s right to self-determination through a free and democratic referendum organized by the United Nations,” in addition to establishing an independent international mechanism to monitor human rights and protect natural resources in the occupied territories.
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