/You’d think that after the fall of the Berlin Wall that walls between countries would have gone out of fashion, but not so much so. Of course the partially finished Trump wall with Mexico was quite the political hot potato. There is kind of a wall between North and South Korea, which you can read about here. I was also to discover that there is a huge wall separating Morocco held and “independent” Western Sahara.
What is the story with Western Sahara?
Western Sahara was formerly Spanish Sahara, and as you might guess a Spanish colony. Spain fled the area in 1976, and despite the wishes of the local Magreb people it was split between Morocco and Mauritania. POLISARIO, the freedom front for Western Sahara managed to throw out the Mauritanians, but Morocco kept the northern 2/3rds.
To read more about this very complex history click here
So, long story short in the interests of this article the northern part under Moroccan control is considered sovereign territory by Morocco, whilst the “independent 1/3 is known as the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic. The SADR as they are known consider their bit the “free zone”, and the other bit occupied territory. And they want it back,
The Moroccan Western Sahara Wall
The Moroccan Western Sahara Wall or Berm is an approximately 2,700 km (1,700 mi) long structure, mostly a sand wall (or “berm”), running through Western Sahara and the southwestern portion of Morocco. It was put in place to separate and protect the Moroccan controlled area form the militants of POLISARIO and the free zone.
According to numerous maps the wall also illegally extends for several miles into Mauritanian territory. It is almost 7 foot high and has a backing trench.
International reaction to the wall?
People are not overly happy about it! Especially in this day and age. It was so contentious that it led to Morocco not being part of Organization for African Unity for 33 years.
It has though been partially effective as a military device, so Morocco like it. Sadly a referendum on independence has been delayed for almost 30 years, so it probably wont go anywhere soon.
But, if you fancy seeing Western Sahara, why not come with YPT
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