A group of African and European academics has addressed an open letter to the United Nations Secretary-General, calling on the organization to recognize Morocco’s sovereignty over its southern provinces, which they described as a “geostrategic key to peace and development in Africa and Europe.”
The letter highlighted the new dynamics shaping Morocco’s Sahara in recent years, notably the Dakhla Atlantic Port project, expected to give several African countries access to global maritime routes and transform the region into an international trade hub.
The academics also underscored the strategic importance of a planned road linking Morocco and Mauritania through the city of Smara, which they said would help open up Mali and other Sahel nations, fostering regional connectivity and growth.
The document was signed by Hubert Seillan, a lawyer at the Paris Bar; Abdellatif Aidara, a Senegalese university professor; Aliou Badara Aidara, a Malian journalist; Souleymane Satigui Siby, a Malian academic and president of the African Network for Governance, Development and Human Rights; and Zozime Alphonse Tamekamta, a Cameroonian professor.
It also noted the launch of a series of international meetings in Smara focused on intercultural understanding and interfaith coexistence, which the signatories described as reflecting “high social values in favor of global peace.”
“We respectfully request, Mr. Secretary-General, that the only viable solution for the future of our countries lies in recognizing Morocco’s sovereignty over the Sahara,” the letter read. “Maintaining the current situation harms regional relations with France and Europe. The Moroccan Sahara is not only a historical truth, it is Moroccan, African, and even European through its land and maritime links.”
The academics argued that development projects in the Sahara would create jobs, reduce migration flows, and contribute to regional stability. “The time has come, this harmful and absurd conflict has never made sense,” they wrote.
The letter also criticized Algeria’s stance on the dispute, saying Algiers’ claim that the Polisario Front represents Sahrawis based on cultural identity “lacks coherence,” since similar cultural traits are shared by Saharan populations within Algeria’s own borders.
“If Algeria’s logic were applied consistently, it would also have to extend such claims to its own Saharan regions,” the authors said. “But since that will never happen, and Morocco has never made it an issue, this inconsistency exposes the bad faith underlying Algeria’s position.”
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