Tags : Western Sahara, Polisario Front, Morocco, autonomy plan, United States,
Qandyl Mohamed – Blogger, Human Rights and Independent Political Activist from Morocco
Since the Moroccan monarchical regime launched what it calls the “Autonomy Initiative” in Western Sahara back in 2007, it has tried to market it as the “realistic and rational” solution to a conflict that has lasted for half a century. Yet behind this glossy propaganda lies the naked truth: a regime that has lost its sovereignty over the whole of Morocco—so how could it possibly grant it to anyone else?
Today, the Makhzen is no longer the decision-maker nor the master of the land. Its role has been reduced to that of a mere extra in a colonial play written in Washington, Paris, London, Tel Aviv, and Madrid—directed entirely according to imperial interests and economic-military deals.
The monarchy that claims to defend “territorial integrity” is the same one that sold what lies beneath the sands of the Sahara—its phosphates and precious minerals—what stands above them—its ports and industrial zones—and what hides beneath its seas—its fisheries and renewable-energy resources. It kept nothing for itself but the sand… sand that slips through its fingers the tighter it tries to hold it.
How can a regime that plunders the wealth of northern and central Morocco and crushes the voices of the Rif, Jerada, Zagora, Sidi Ifni, and Generation Z convince the Sahrawis that it will ever grant them “true autonomy”?
What credibility can a regime have when it has turned education into a factory of ignorance, hospitals into graveyards for the living, and the judiciary into a market of bribes and political orders?
How can anyone believe in “autonomy promises” when a Moroccan citizen in Fez, Tetouan, Khouribga, or Casablanca cannot even protest an inflated water bill without being accused of “inciting unrest” or “insulting a public official”?
Talking about autonomy under Makhzen authority is nothing but reproducing the same rotten system in a new disguise—a local façade tightly controlled by security and economic strings from above. The Moroccan proposal is not meant to empower the Sahrawis to determine their own destiny; it seeks to legitimize political and economic occupation and allow multinational corporations to drain the region’s wealth under a “legal” pretext.
The general state of Morocco today exposes the essence of this regime: growing poverty, suffocating unemployment, a collapsing purchasing power, social fragmentation, systematic repression, and rampant administrative and judicial corruption. Education is dying, healthcare is paralyzed, and national dignity is being stripped away piece by piece.
1. How can a regime living on IMF loans and executing EU and NATO orders be the protector of Sahrawi rights?
2. How could the Sahrawis entrust their fate to those who have already handed over the destiny of the Moroccan people to foreign powers?
The autonomy that the Makhzen promotes is not a peace project—it is a containment project, meant to buy time and consolidate military and economic control over a territory where the regime has lost every shred of popular legitimacy. It is a political trap disguised in the language of “realism” and “regionalization”, yet at its core it reproduces dependency and prepares for the post-sovereignty era of Morocco itself.
The Sahrawis now face a clear equation: either accept a mined “autonomy” under a regime incapable of governing itself, or uphold their right to self-determination as guaranteed by international law.
To bet on the Makhzen is to bet on a mirage—because one cannot give what one does not have. A regime that has lost sovereignty over its own land cannot grant sovereignty to others.
It is time to understand that the question of Western Sahara is not just a border dispute, but a mirror reflecting the deep internal collapse of the Moroccan state. When political decisions are made in Western capitals and national resources are mortgaged to multinational corporations, talk of “autonomy” becomes nothing more than bitter irony.
The real question is not who rules the Sahara—it is who rules Morocco itself.
And the painful answer is: no one, except the alliance of money, security, and dependency—#The_Makhzen_Gang.
So how could the Sahrawis be granted what forty million Moroccans themselves are denied?
The autonomy plan, as marketed by the Makhzen, is nothing but a new form of colonialism—this time with a Moroccan façade and foreign sponsorship.
And Western Sahara, with its riches above and below ground and sea, has become an open playground for imperial interests that have turned the Moroccan monarchy into a mere administrative broker signing the contracts of sale.
Let the Sahrawis beware of falling into this trap,
for those who sell their homeland cannot offer one to others.
#WesternSahara #Morocco #autonomy
