Moroccan Western Sahara Wall

The wall is also called the Western Sahara berm and the Western Sahara separation barrier.

The fortifications lie in uninhabited or very sparsely inhabited territory. They consist of sand and stone walls or berms about {{convert|3|m|ft|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} in height, with bunkers, fences, and landmines throughout. The barrier minebelt that runs along the structure is thought to be the longest continuous minefield in the world.{{cite journal|url=http://maic.jmu.edu/journal/11.2/profiles/mccoull/mccoull.htm|last=McCoull|first=Chad|title=Country Profiles – Morocco and Western Sahara|journal=Journal of Mine Action|issn=2154-1485|access-date=27 November 2010|archive-date=29 August 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120829203916/http://maic.jmu.edu/journal/11.2/profiles/mccoull/mccoull.htm|url-status=live}} Military bases, artillery posts and airfields dot the Moroccan-controlled side of the wall at regular intervals, and radar masts and other electronic surveillance equipment scan the areas in front of it.

The following is one observer's description of the berm from 2001:

{{quotation|Physically, the berm is a {{convert|2|m|ftin|abbr=on}} high wall (with a backing trench), which rides along a topographical high point/ridge/hill throughout the territory. Spaced out over every {{convert|5|km|mi|abbr=on}} are big, small and medium bases, with approximately 35–40 troops at each observation post and groups of 10 soldiers spaced out over the distance as well. About {{convert|4|km|mi|abbr=on|frac=2}} behind each major post there is a rapid reaction post, which includes backing mobile forces (tanks, etc). A series of overlapping fixed and mobile radars are also positioned throughout the berm. The radars are estimated to have a range of between {{convert|60|and|80|km|mi|abbr=on|sigfig=2}} into the Polisario-controlled territory, and are generally utilized to locate artillery fire onto detected Polisario forces. Information from the radar is processed by a forward-based commander, who contacts a rear-based artillery unit.{{Cite web |url=http://www.arso.org/bhatia2001.htm |title=ARSO Website |access-date=13 April 2008 |archive-date=18 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171018112450/http://www.arso.org/bhatia2001.htm |url-status=live }}}}

In all, six lines of berms have been constructed.[http://www.minurso.unlb.org/milestones02.htm Milestones of the conflict] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070221012627/http://www.minurso.unlb.org/milestones02.htm |date=21 February 2007 }}, page 2. Website of the United Nations MINURSO mission. The main ("external") line of fortifications extends for about {{convert|2,500|km|mi|abbr=on|sigfig=2}}. It runs east from Guerguerat on the coast in the extreme south of Western Sahara near the Mauritanian town of Nouadhibou, closely parallelling the Mauritanian border for about {{convert|200|km|mi|abbr=on|sigfig=2}}, before turning north beyond Tichla. It then runs generally northeastward, leaving Guelta Zemmur and Smara, again crossing Mauritanian territory and reaching Haouza in Moroccan-held territory, before turning east and again closely following the Algerian border as it approaches Morocco. A section extends about {{convert|200|km|mi|abbr=on|sigfig=2}} into southeastern Morocco.[https://www.un.org/Depts/Cartographic/map/dpko/minurso.pdf United Nations Map No. 3691] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170823005014/http://www.un.org/Depts/Cartographic/map/dpko/minurso.pdf |date=23 August 2017 }} Rev. 53 United Nations, October 2006 (Colour), Department of Peacekeeping Operations, Cartographic Section. Depicts the deployment of the MINURSO mission, as well as the wall location.See also e.g. [https://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=rabat&ie=UTF8&om=1&z=13&ll=28.119227,-8.81464&spn=0.111582,0.213032&t=h this satellite montage at Google Maps] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230712214122/https://www.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=rabat&ie=UTF8&om=1&z=13&ll=28.119227,-8.81464&spn=0.111582,0.213032&t=h|date=12 July 2023}} for a section of the wall in Moroccan territory. The northernmost fort that is clearly distinguishable can be seen here [https://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=rabat&ie=UTF8&om=1&z=13&ll=28.361949,-8.837471&spn=0.111328,0.213032&t=h] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230712214132/https://www.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=rabat&ie=UTF8&om=1&z=13&ll=28.361949,-8.837471&spn=0.111328,0.213032&t=h|date=12 July 2023}}. (Google Maps, as of 30 November 2006)

Significant lines of fortifications also lie deep within the Moroccan-controlled area.For example, a sand berm with fortifications much like on the main external line can be seen here [https://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=rabat&ie=UTF8&z=14&ll=23.264688,-16.038494&spn=0.058114,0.105743&t=h&om=1] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230712214122/https://www.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=rabat&ie=UTF8&z=14&ll=23.264688,-16.038494&spn=0.058114,0.105743&t=h&om=1|date=12 July 2023}}, reaching the coast near Imlili, over 200 km (125 miles) north of the main external berm along the southern border. (Google Maps, as of 30 November 2006) Their exact number and location have been ignored and not well understood until 2004 by international commentators.{{cite news |language=nl |url=http://www.cidi.nl/isnbr/2004/hoofd2-0104.html |title=Marokkaanse veiligheidsmuur al twee decennia onomstreden |trans-title=Moroccan security wall has been undisputed for two decades |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050209034916/http://www.cidi.nl/isnbr/2004/hoofd2-0104.html |archive-date=9 February 2005 |work=CIDI Israel Newsletter |date=2 February 2004 |location=The Hague |quote=Until now, no mention has been made in the media or international politics of the fact that Morocco has had a 'security wall' for more than twenty years, consisting of meters high sand mountains, bunkers, barbed wire barriers and minefields. The structure is 2,500 kilometers long (longer than the Great Wall of China) and aims to keep Polisario guerrillas out of Morocco and the part of Western Sahara occupied by that country since 1976. }}

All major settlements in Western Sahara, the capital Laayoune, and the phosphate mine at Bou Craa lie far into the Moroccan-held side.

File:Western sahara walls moroccan map-en.svg

The fortifications were progressively built by Moroccan forces starting in 1980, with help from South African, South Korean, and Israeli advisors, and formally ending on 16 April 1987. The wall was built in six stages, and the area behind the wall was expanded from a small area near Morocco in the north to most of the western and central part of the country gradually. The walls built were:

• 1st wall (August 1980 – June 1982) surrounding the "useful triangle" of El Aaiún, Smara, and the phosphate mines at Bou Craa, built with the help of South African military engineers and Portuguese and French renegade mercenaries (c. {{convert|500|km|mi|abbr=on|sigfig=2}}).
• 2nd wall (December 1983 – January 1984) surrounding Amgala (c. {{convert|300|km|mi|abbr=on|sigfig=2}}).
• 3rd wall (April 1984 – May 1984) surrounding Jdiriya and Haouza (c. {{convert|320|km|mi|abbr=on|sigfig=2}}).
• 4th wall (December 1984 – January 1985) surrounding Mahbes and Farciya (c. {{convert|380|km|mi|abbr=on|sigfig=2}}).
• 5th wall (May–September 1985) surrounding Guelta Zemmur, Bir Anzarane, and Dakhla, again with the help of South African and Israeli experts (c. {{convert|670|km|mi|abbr=on|sigfig=2}})
• 6th wall (February–April 1987) surrounding Auserd, Tichla, and Bir Ganduz (c. {{convert|550|km|mi|abbr=on|sigfig=2}}).
• 7th wall (November–December 2020) from 6th wall to Mauritanian frontier (c. {{convert|14|km|mi|abbr=on|sigfig=2}}).{{Cite news |last=Eljechtimi |first=Ahmed |date=2020-11-17 |title=Morocco PM says Western Sahara wall at centre of dispute completed |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-morocco-westernsahara/morocco-pm-says-western-sahara-wall-at-centre-of-dispute-completed-idUSKBN27X2MH |access-date=2022-04-20 |archive-date=20 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220420182635/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-morocco-westernsahara/morocco-pm-says-western-sahara-wall-at-centre-of-dispute-completed-idUSKBN27X2MH |url-status=live }}

Image:Sahrawi women against the wall of shame.jpg

In the summer of 2005, the Moroccan Army accelerated the expulsion (begun in late 2004) of illegal immigrants detained in northern Morocco to the eastern side of the wall, into the Free Zone. The Polisario Front and the MINURSO rescued several dozen lost in the desert, who had run out of water. Others died of thirst.{{cite news | title = Patada al desierto | url = http://www.diariocordoba.com/noticias/noticia.asp?pkid=211151 | publisher = Diario de Córdoba | date = 17 October 2005 | access-date = 28 May 2010 | language = es | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110721050853/http://www.diariocordoba.com/noticias/noticia.asp?pkid=211151 | archive-date = 21 July 2011 | url-status = dead }} By October, the Polisario had received 22 immigrants in Mehaires, 46 in Tifariti and 97 in Bir Lehlu. They were from African countries (Gambia, Cameroon, Nigeria, Ghana, etc.), except a group of 48 who were from Bangladesh.{{cite news | title = El Polisario busca desaparecidos | url = http://www.elpais.com/articulo/espana/Polisario/busca/desaparecidos/elpepunac/20051018elpepinac_13/Tes. | publisher = El País | date = 18 October 2005 | access-date = 28 May 2010|language=es}}{{cite news | title = De Bangladesh al desierto del Sáhara | url = http://www.elpais.com/articulo/espana/Bangladesh/desierto/Sahara/elpporesp/20051019elpepinac_21/Tes | publisher = El País | date = 19 October 2005 | access-date = 28 October 2010 | language = es | archive-date = 12 July 2023 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20230712214136/https://elpais.com/diario/2005/10/19/espana/1129672821_850215.html | url-status = live }}

Since 2008, a demonstration called "The Thousand Column" is held annually in the desert against the barrier by international human rights activists and Sahrawi refugees. In the 2008 demonstration, more than 2,000 people (most of them Sahrawis and Spaniards, but also Algerians, Italians, and others) made a human chain demanding the demolition of the wall, the celebration of the self-determination referendum accorded by the UN and the parts in 1991, and the end of the Moroccan occupation of the territory.[http://www.elmundo.es/elmundo/2008/03/22/internacional/1206210914.html Una cadena humana de más de 2.000 personas pide el derribo del muro del Sáhara] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140317055105/http://www.elmundo.es/elmundo/2008/03/22/internacional/1206210914.html |date=17 March 2014 }} El Mundo (EFE), 22 March 2008 {{in lang|es}}

During the 2009 demonstration, a teenage Sahrawi refugee named Ibrahim Hussein Leibeit lost half of his right leg in a landmine explosion.[http://www.demotix.com/news/404266/demonstration-western-sahara-against-moroccan-army-wall#media-404244 Demonstration in Western Sahara against Moroccan Army Wall] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923233103/http://www.demotix.com/news/404266/demonstration-western-sahara-against-moroccan-army-wall#media-404244 |date=23 September 2015 }} Demotix, 9 April 2009[http://www.filminfocus.com/photo/ibrahim_hussein_leibeit/print Ibrahim Hussein Leibeit] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140317050153/http://www.filminfocus.com/photo/ibrahim_hussein_leibeit/print |date=17 March 2014 }} Focus Features, 28 May 2009 The incident happened when Leibeit and dozens of young Sahrawis crossed the line into a minefield while aiming to throw stones to the other side of the wall.[http://newint.org/features/special/2009/05/20/the-devils-garden/ Screenings in The Devil’s Garden: The Sahara Film Festival] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130103162606/http://www.newint.org/features/special/2009/05/20/the-devils-garden/ |date=3 January 2013 }}, New Internationalist, Issue 422, 20 May 2009[http://newint.org/features/special/2009/11/10/sahara-berlin-wall/ The Berlin Wall of the Desert] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130103124351/http://www.newint.org/features/special/2009/11/10/sahara-berlin-wall/ |date=3 January 2013 }} New Internationalist, Issue 427, 10 November 2009

Effectively, after the completion of the wall, Morocco has controlled the bulk of Western Sahara territory that lies to the north and west of it, calling these the kingdom's "Southern Provinces". The Polisario-founded Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic controls the mostly uninhabited "Free Zone", which comprises all areas to the east of the barrier. Units from the United Nations mission MINURSO separate the two sides, and enforce cease-fire regulations.

Western attention to the wall, and to the Moroccan annexation of Western Sahara in general, has been minimal, apart from Spain. In Africa, the annexation of Western Sahara by Morocco has attracted somewhat more attention. Algeria supports the Polisario Front "in its long-running desert war to oppose Moroccan control of the disputed area".[http://countrystudies.us/algeria/157.htm "Security Problems with Neighboring States"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101121173349/http://countrystudies.us/algeria/157.htm |date=21 November 2010 }}, Country Studies/Area Handbook Series, Library of Congress Federal Research Division (retrieved 1 May 2006).Williams, Ian and Zunes, Stephen, [http://www.fpif.org/papers/sahara2003.html "Self Determination Struggle in the Western Sahara Continues to Challenge the UN"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070109235619/http://www.fpif.org/papers/sahara2003.html |date=9 January 2007 }}, Foreign Policy in Focus Policy Report, September 2003 (retrieved 1 May 2006). The Organization of African Unity/African Union (AU) and United Nations have proposed negotiated solutions.

The AU's stance on Western Sahara led to Morocco's exit from the organization. After a 33-year absence, Morocco rejoined on 30 January 2017, despite 9 member states voting against, but 39 supporting.{{cite news |url=http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/01/morocco-rejoins-african-union-33-years-170131084926023.html |title=Morocco rejoins the African Union after 33 years |agency=Al Jazeera |date=31 January 2017 |access-date=23 June 2017 |archive-date=24 June 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170624084935/http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/01/morocco-rejoins-african-union-33-years-170131084926023.html |url-status=live }} Morocco was re-admitted with the understanding that Western Sahara will remain an AU member.

File:The Berm, Western Sahara..jpg|Wall east of Mahbes

File:Mahbes.jpeg|Wall south of Mahbes

{{portal|Western Sahara}}

• Defensive wall
• List of walls
• Wall of Shame

{{reflist}}

{{coord|31.7916|-7.0925|type:landmark_globe:earth_region:MA|display=title}}

{{commons category|Moroccan Wall}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20170704165428/http://www.un.org/Depts/Cartographic/map/dpko/minurso.pdf Map of Western Sahara, with the location of the wall marked] Produced by the United Nations, showing the deployment of the MINURSO mission as of January 2014. Map No. 3691 Rev. 72 United Nations, January 2014 (Colour), Department of Peacekeeping Operations, Cartographic Section
• [http://www.icbl.org/lm/2006/morocco.html Landmine Monitor, LM Report 2006, Morocco]
• [http://www.icbl.org/lm/2006/western_sahara.html Landmine Monitor, LM Report 2006, Western Sahara ]
• [http://www.icbl.org/lm/2006/algeria Landmine Monitor, LM Report 2006, Algeria]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20160307215350/http://www.un.org/Depts/DPKO/Missions/minurso/minurso.pdf Profile] – Created by the United Nations MINURSO mission

Category:Walls

Category:Western Sahara conflict

Category:Buildings and structures in Western Sahara

Category:Separation barriers

Category:Borders of Morocco

Category:Borders of Western Sahara

Category:Politics of Morocco

Category:Politics of Western Sahara