The Polydisciplinary Faculty of Safi hosted a study day dedicated to developments related to the Moroccan Sahara dossier in light of the latest UN Security Council resolution.

The meeting, initiated by the Federation of Safi Associations in close collaboration with the Polydisciplinary Faculty, began with an address by the Dean of the faculty, who called for academic mobilisation to defend the Moroccan Sahara dossier from a scientific perspective by making efforts in research and communication regarding the just Moroccan position. "Any form of extension of MINURSO's mandate represents an infringement on Morocco's sovereignty over its Sahara," he affirmed.

The representative of the regional human rights commission highlighted the progress made by Morocco regarding respect for human rights. The speaker screened a documentary that revisited the chronology of the Sahara dossier resolution proposals, the mission of MINURSO and the budgets allocated to it, the proposal to extend MINURSO's mission, and Morocco's firm position in this regard, as well as the risks and threats contained in the American proposal which jeopardises a historic and strategic partnership with Morocco.

Mustapha Sophi, a professor of political science at the Polydisciplinary Faculty of Safi, considered that the American position, despite the risks it represented, had nevertheless demonstrated the unanimous position and national mobilisation around the Moroccan Sahara.

He questioned the underlying motives and perspectives of the American proposal, which he prefers to link to cyclical factors marked above all by the changes in the Arab world and the situation in the Sahel.

The management strategy for this dossier, long monopolised by the King and the Ministry of the Interior, he affirmed, should be revised for greater responsiveness and involvement of the components of Moroccan society. Any resolution of the Sahara dossier should stem from a societal project including political parties and civil society, as this dossier holds strategic interest beyond the issue of human rights. On the other hand, Mr. Sophi called for an offensive diplomacy optimising dialogue between the North and the South, as no one can imagine Morocco without its Sahara.

For Abdellatif Bakkour, a professor of political science at the same Faculty, Algeria is heavily involved in the Sahara dossier even though it claims to adopt a neutral position. For him, Moroccan diplomacy has not made sufficient efforts with the United Nations to thwart the manoeuvres of the Polisario, which currently benefits from the support of several American institutions that have an impact on decision-making within the American administration. Bakkour called, on the one hand, for the optimisation and strengthening of parallel diplomacy involving researchers, political parties, unions, and human rights associations, and on the other hand, for the constitution of a Supreme Council composed of professors and researchers tasked with monitoring this dossier. The projects of democratisation and rooting of good governance should continue, he added, while broadening the possibilities for political participation and the realisation of the autonomy project.

Abdelkader Azria situated the current situation within the framework of an identity crisis inherited from the Protectorate and aggravated by the process of globalisation. Knowing that the new Constitution had anticipatorily included Hassani culture as a main component of Morocco's multiple culture. For Azria, the American position should be the subject of debates involving researchers and political and civil actors, as Morocco had voluntarily adhered to international human rights conventions and charters while setting up the National Human Rights Council, which refers in its action to the principles of the Universal Declaration. The speaker called for a new approach in managing the Sahara dossier while insisting on combining the contents of the new Constitution and the reports of the Economic, Social and Environmental Council.

Said Khoumri, a professor of political science, stressed that Moroccan diplomacy was always confronted with diplomacy supported by major strategies at the international level. The efforts of Moroccan NGOs as well as those of the National Human Rights Council, he added, had finally succeeded in swaying the American position.

According to him, the latest report of the UN envoy to the Sahara, which was content to mention the issue of human rights in the Sahara without raising the repressive practices perpetrated in Tindouf, was not balanced: how can he point out the avant-garde role of the National Human Rights Council in the region while calling for the establishment of a new control mechanism? he asks. And he noted that the report had omitted the efforts of human rights associations and the media in the Southern provinces. However, the said report contains positive points that should be capitalised on by Morocco, such as the country's opening up to international human rights organisations, the efforts made for the social development of the region, and the need to open the borders between Morocco and Algeria.

To conclude, Khoumri urged political parties and unions to assume their mission of guidance, organisation, and openness to the rights-based approach with a view to creating the conditions required for the implementation of the advanced regionalisation project.

As for Jmiai, he highlighted the avant-garde role of civil society as stipulated in the new Constitution. Associative actors, he added, are called upon to defend the territorial integrity of the Kingdom and thwart the manoeuvres that risk undermining national sovereignty in the Southern provinces.