| Foreign Relations Of Western Sahara |
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Western Sahara is a former Spanish Colony claimed and mostly administered by Morocco since Spain abandoned the territory in 1975 - 76 , but Sovereignty is unresolved and the United Nations is attempting to hold a Referendum on the issue through the mission MINURSO . Part Of The Territory is controlled by the Nationalist group the Polisario Front as the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic . A UN-administered Cease-fire has been in effect since September 1991 . POSITIONS OF THE PARTIES United Nations The United Nations views Western Sahara as a case of incomplete Decolonization , until the Sahrawi people are able to use their right of Self-determination in the form of a referendum. This makes Western Sahara the last major remaining Colony in the world. African Union The African Union (formerly the Organization Of African Unity ) has given the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic full recognition, and accepted it as a member (which has led Morocco to leave the union, becoming the only African country outside of it). Kingdom of Morocco The position of the Kingdom of Morocco is that Western Sahara is an integral part of the Kingdom. The Moroccan government refers to Western Sahara only as the "Sahara", "Moroccan Sahara", "Saharan provinces" or the " but no ties of territorial sovereignty. Thus the Court stated that those legal ties don’t affect the principle of Self Determination of the peoples of the territory. Polisario Front The position of the Polisario Front and other supporters of Independence is that Western Sahara is an occupied territory, the rightful government of which is the Exiled Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR). The UN also considers Western Sahara an occupied territory, and a territory which should be Decolonized , since the legal administrator of the territory still is Spain. Although the Sahrawi republic is not recognised as a member state in the UN, Polisario is recognized as the legal representative of the Sahrawi people. RECOGNITION The SADR is recognized by 48 states (not including 22 states that have cancelled their earlier recognitions and 12 that have frozen their relations). For a list of these governments, see below. '''Non-recognition''' of the Sahrawi republic does not imply non-recognition of the Polisario Front: several governments acknowledge Polisario as the legitimate representative of the Sahrawi people, but not its exile government as a state. Although Morocco claims that no recognition is required, Moroccan sovereignty over the territory is explicitly recognized formally by the Arab League {Link without Title} , {Link without Title} and by 25 states. For a list of these governments, see below. COUNTRY RECOGNIZING THE SADR The following is a list of governments of the world that have formally recognized Western Sahara as a sovereign nation, with the exiled Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic as its legitimate government. After recognizing an independent Western Sahara, some states have since retracted their recognitions. Others have chosen a milder option, to "freeze" recognition pending the outcome of the referendum on Self-determination . If the results are in favor of independence, these governments will then resume the frozen contacts, while a government who has "cancelled" recognition (or never recognized Western Sahara), will not necessarily do so. This list is based on several sources, and it may be incomplete. Currently, it contains 82 countries, and of these
LIST OF COUNTRY RECOGNITIONS OF MOROCCAN SOVEREIGNTY OVER THE WESTERN SAHARA This list is based on several sources and may be incomplete: # Argentina {Link without Title} # Botswana {Link without Title} # Cameroon {Link without Title} # Central Africa {Link without Title} , {Link without Title} # Chile {Link without Title} {Link without Title} # China {Link without Title} # Colombia {Link without Title} # Egypt {Link without Title} # Equatorial Guinea {Link without Title} # Gabon {Link without Title} # Guinea {Link without Title} # Indonesia {Link without Title} # Iraq {Link without Title} # Ivory Coast {Link without Title} # Kuwait {Link without Title} # Libya {Link without Title} # Madagascar {Link without Title} # Malawi {Link without Title} # Peru {Link without Title} # Senegal {Link without Title} # Serbia And Montenegro {Link without Title} # Swaziland {Link without Title} # Sudan {Link without Title} # Vanuatu {Link without Title} # Yemen {Link without Title} SEE ALSO REFERENCES |
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