Latest / Journey to the Fringe / Western Sahara

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Western Sahara · Journey to the Fringe

0:03
From the unexplained to the mundane, come join
0:06
us on a Journey to the Fringe. You're really
0:34
building it up here. We're building it up. Please
0:37
listen still you do have to Think this is one
0:40
of those mandatory. You gotta listen. It's like
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fiber. It's something you gotta get in your diet
0:45
Yeah, it's been happening a lot lately. You have
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to listen to this. You gotta listen Yeah, even
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I'm gonna have to listen to this too guys. Don't
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worry. Yeah, we're in the same boat Anyhow your
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podcast host Taylor and Chelsea here today covering
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a very normal topic that you've definitely heard
1:03
about but because there's an entire fringy side
1:06
that you have not heard about It's not cling
1:09
wrap, is it? Yes, surprisingly the migrant crisis
1:12
in Spain is an entirely cling wrap based issue.
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How did you know? The way you were building it
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up, it seemed like cling wrap. We're just going
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to have to cover this. So there was a migrant
1:24
crisis in Spain. I'm sure everybody heard about
1:26
it happened at the end of July. I've been hearing
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about it. Lots, just so many Africans went into
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Spain. Something happened, went crazy. Yeah.
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Everybody heard about it. Yeah all over the news.
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I'm gonna tell you the story behind it My personal
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belief as to why it actually happened I've been
1:45
wanting to know but I wasn't allowed to look
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any further into it other than Accidental hearings
1:51
about it. So I'm quite excited because I had
1:53
to tell a few people around Chelsea about it,
1:56
but Also, why didn't I just make them listen
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They won't And that's why we have to have the
2:06
conversation from the mini about them. I'm going
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to give you the event itself. I'm going to give
2:11
you the history behind it. And then I'm going
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to give you some speculation from there as to
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what actually happened. Is it wildly speculating?
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It is not wildly speculating. It is very specific
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speculating. Interesting. OK, I'm ready. I think
2:25
I have a very good idea of why it happened. OK.
2:29
If you have any questions along the way too,
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I know a lot more than the script I have written,
2:34
so if you have questions I probably have an answer,
2:37
but we're just gonna go with it because this
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is the only way I could contemplate describing
2:43
it for you. Near the end of July 2026, an estimated
2:48
roughly 80 ,000 people, mainly young men, illegally
2:51
breached and crossed the border from Morocco
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into Spain's autonomous area. called the city
2:57
of Ceuta in North Africa, with smaller numbers
2:59
attempting to cross to Malila, another Spanish
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nomad city about 400 kilometers away along the
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Mediterranean coastline. This overwhelmed local
3:08
reception facilities and also prompted the government
3:10
of Ceuta to request the Spanish government to
3:13
declare a national emergency. Most of these people
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entered by swimming across the breakwater of
3:17
Terra Hall and Benzu or by crossing on foot along
3:21
the shoreline. By August 3, Spanish government
3:23
officials said about 70 ,000 people had voluntarily
3:27
returned to Morocco that's an insane amount of
3:30
people oh it's ridiculous like the entire population
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is 80 ,000 so they doubled the population in
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like a day Yeah, unexpectedly thousands largely
3:40
from sub -saharan africa have been estimated
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to still be remaining in siuta by august 3rd
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to 4th at least 111 migrants were reported to
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have died as a result of this incident even with
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the migrant crisis issue with it 111 people died
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like it's a huge deal july 29th it was reported
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that the authorities had begun transferring some
4:00
migrants from siuta to mainland spain and that
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the first group of 39 mostly sudanese migrants
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had been transferred to Spain. While the majority
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of the estimated 80 ,000 who arrived in Spain
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were returned to Morocco in the days following
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the crisis, it was estimated that three to five
4:17
thousand illegal migrants still remained in Ceuta
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as of August 4th. That's the earliest update
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I could find. That's the migrant crisis that
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we're actually covering here. But I think it
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is important here now, you need to pull up a
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map. Okay. And I need you to look at specifically
4:33
Morocco and where we're actually talking about.
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Siuta and Malila. Yeah, Siuta is right like on
4:40
Africa. It's in Morocco. Morocco is in charge
4:43
of the border. Siuta and Malila are the only
4:45
parts of Africa still owned by Europe. They're
4:48
both on the northern side of Morocco in the Mediterranean.
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Tiny little areas, technically not a part of
4:56
Spain, but independent, not nations, but sovereign
4:59
states, I guess is a technically correct way
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to say it, that are protected by Spain. So Chelsea,
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you have your map up. I see Ceuta. Zoom out on
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like a general scale. Yeah. Look at all the borders
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between countries in the area around Morocco.
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You see the border between Algeria and Morocco,
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correct? Yeah. Nice solid line, correct? Yeah,
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it's solid. It's black. I want you to compare
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that to Morocco's border with West Sahara. Oh,
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this dotted line there. Yes. Yeah, okay. Yeah,
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I see that. Today, this episode is gonna be about
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this dotted line right here. Country's borders
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are generally a solid line, unless there's something
5:39
weird going on. and there is something very weird
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going on between Morocco and West Sahara. We're
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going to be talking about the country of Western
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Sahara. Okay. It's located in the northwest coast
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of West Africa just below Morocco, bordering
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on the North Atlantic to the northwest, Morocco
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to the northeast, Algeria's to its eastern northeast,
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and Mauritania in the east and south. Among the
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most arid locations on the planet, the land along
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the coast is low flat desert and rises especially
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in the north as small mountains reaching up to
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600 meters on the eastern side. While the area
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can experience flash flooding in the spring,
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there are no permanent streams. At times a cool
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offshore current can produce fog and heavy dew.
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Like this is an inhospitable area. Okay. The
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interior experiences extreme summer heat with
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an average high of 43 to 45 degrees Celsius with
6:34
about 113 degrees Fahrenheit in July and August.
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But during the winters days are still hot to
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very hot with average highs from 25 to 30. But
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The thermostat may drop to about freezing at
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night and it can be freezing in December and
6:48
January although this is rare. It is an important
6:51
area though because it has rich fishing waters
6:55
right off the coast of Africa and huge phosphate
6:58
reserves which are very good for fertilizer but
7:02
outside of that has very few natural resources
7:05
and lacks sufficient rainfall and freshwater
7:06
resources for any agricultural activities. There
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is speculation that there may be offshore oil
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and natural gas as well but there's a debate
7:15
that persists about this and whether it'd be
7:17
profitable to exploit as well. Western Sahara
7:20
was a colony of In the region of Western Sahara,
7:26
starting in 1884, Spain did use slave trade,
7:29
but by the 1700s they transitioned it towards
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economic activity on the Saharan coast towards
7:34
commercial fishing. Raids and rebellions by the
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indigenous Saharan population kept the Spanish
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forces out of much of the territory for a long
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time. Like they were just along the coast. The
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territory was eventually subdued by joint Spanish
7:47
and French forces in 1934. In the same year,
7:50
the Spaniards divided their Saharan territory
7:52
territories into two regions named the Red River
7:55
and Rio de Oro. After 1939, the outbreak of World
7:59
War Two, the area was administered by Spanish
8:01
Morocco. And in 1958, Spain joined the district
8:04
of Sague El Hamra in the north with Rio de Oro
8:08
in the south to form the province of Spanish
8:11
Sahara, following with Morocco's claiming of
8:14
these regions in 1957. Because they were so worried
8:17
about Morocco's influence in the area, they actually
8:20
let Morocco put influence into who ruled the
8:23
region. But as it went, Spanish colonial rule
8:26
began to unravel with the general wave of decolonization
8:29
after World War II. Former North African and
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Sub -Saharan African possessions and protectorates
8:35
gained independence from European powers. Spanish
8:38
decolonization proceeded more slowly, but internal
8:41
political and social pressures for its mainland
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Spain built up towards the end of Francisco Franco's
8:48
rule. Basically he was dying so he didn't have
8:51
his much power protecting his claims. So Spain
8:54
abandons a lot of its territories starting with
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neighboring Morocco in 1956 but resisted encroachment
9:01
by the Moroccan Liberation Army within Infi and
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Spanish Sahara from 1956 to 1958. That's actually
9:08
more recent than I ever would have guessed. Oh
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yeah it's weird how you always think of the colony
9:14
era as early 1900s, late 1800s but no like 75
9:19
ascended. This is crazy. One thing that I need
9:22
to make clear at this point, there's a group
9:24
that lives in Western Sahara. It's called the
9:26
Sahwari people. It's spelled S -H -A -R -A -W
9:30
-I, but I did listen to a interview with a Sahwari
9:34
person and that's how they said it, so I'm going
9:36
to be saying it that way. In 1971, Sahwari students
9:39
in Moroccan universities began to organize what
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came to be known as the Empirionic Movement for
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the Liberation of Sagua El Hamra and Rio de Oro,
9:49
the two provinces. The movement tried, without
9:52
success, to gain backing from several Arab governments,
9:54
including Algeria and Morocco. Spain began rapidly
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to divest itself of most of its remaining colonial
10:01
possessions, and by 1974 -1975, the government
10:04
issued promises of referendum on independence
10:07
in Western Sahara. However, at the same time,
10:10
Morocco and Mauritania, which is to the south
10:13
of Western Sahara Mauritania, which had historical
10:16
and competing claims of sovereignty over the
10:19
country, argued that it had been artificially
10:21
separated from their territories by the European
10:24
colonial powers. Algeria, which also bordered
10:27
the territories, viewed these demands with suspicion,
10:29
as Morocco also claimed that Algerian provinces
10:32
of Tindof and Bekar were part of them. Arguing
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for a process of decolonization to be guided
10:38
by the United Nations, the Algerian government
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under Hoare Boumediene in 1975 committed to assisting
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Polisario Front, which is the big Sahawari group
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that protects it for their country, which opposed
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both Moroccan and Mauritanian claims and demanded
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full independence of Western Sahara. The UN attempted
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to settle these disputes through a visiting mission
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in late 1975. as well as a verdict from the International
11:07
Court of Justice, acknowledged that Western Sahara
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had historical links with Morocco and Mauritania,
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but not sufficient enough to prove the sovereignty
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of either state over the territory at the time
11:19
of the Spanish colonization. The population of
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the territory thus possessed the right to self
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-determination. On November 6, 1975, Morocco
11:27
initiated the Green March into Western Sahara.
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350 ,000 unarmed Moroccans converged in the city
11:32
of Tarfea in Southern Morocco and waited for
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a signal from King Hassan II of Morocco to cross
11:39
the border in a peaceful march on October 31st.
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Moroccan troops had invaded Western Zahara from
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the north. The kings in charge of Morocco, they
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have a king that ruled? They have a king, yes.
11:49
Okay, and he was giving orders for this. He's
11:52
ready to invade, like right off the bat. Who
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did Spain take this from? Did we say that? No,
11:58
but it's like so far back, it's really hard to
12:02
say. It's one of those things were they colonized
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it took it and then tried to back off and just
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say like we don't have anything to do we don't
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want anything here like pretend we weren't here
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but like yeah everything's fucked and it's because
12:15
a few other countries have like dealt better
12:18
with European colonization that they were in
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a position to just kind of take the land Mm -hmm.
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Yeah, I mean I can't yet looking at it Why it's
12:27
like a clusterfuck for lack of a better word
12:30
of who owns it. I can see just geographically
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Everybody would want to claim to it And I do
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feel like we're gonna have to cover Franco at
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some point a little bit more because he is just
12:39
like a crazy Dictator that nobody really knows
12:42
about. You know who really needs to cover Franco
12:45
is behind the bastard They do. On a separate
12:48
funny note just to add it here I saw someone
12:50
suggest Danielle Smith for a behind the I actually
12:54
saw somebody post about Saskatchewan's fall to
12:58
the right as a Behind the Bastards episode. I
13:01
thought that would be so interesting. There's
13:03
so many interesting assholes. But yeah, Franco,
13:06
what a dick. So in the waning days of Franco's
13:10
rule and after the Green March, the Spanish government
13:12
signed what they called the Tripartite Agreement
13:15
with Morocco and Mauritania as it moved to transfer
13:18
the territory on November 14th, 1975. The accord
13:21
was based on a bipartite administration and Morocco
13:25
and Mauritania each moved to annex their territories
13:28
of Western Sahara. with Morocco taking control
13:30
of the north two -thirds of western Sahara as
13:33
its southern provinces it's just morocco they
13:36
call western sahara southern provinces of morocco
13:39
okay and Mauritania taking control of the southern
13:42
third of the tiras al garbia Spain terminated
13:46
its presence in Spanish Sahara within three months
13:49
of this happening. So the Moroccan and Mauritanian
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annexations were resisted by the Polisario, the
13:54
Safwari people's group, which had gained backing
13:57
from Algeria, initiated guerrilla warfare, and
14:00
in 1979, Mauritania withdrew due to pressure
14:04
from Polisario, including a bombardment on its
14:07
capital and other economic targets. Morocco extended
14:10
its control to the rest of the territory when
14:12
this happened, but hostility ceased in 1991 when
14:16
a ceasefire happened and overseen by the peacekeeping
14:18
mission of the UN M -I -N -U -R -S -O under the
14:23
terms of a UN settlement plan. Now over the 90s
14:26
and 2000s there's many failed attempts for a
14:29
referendum to take place over this time on whether
14:31
or not Western Sahara should be its own country.
14:34
In the 2000s Morocco has repeatedly tried to
14:37
engage Algeria in bilateral negotiations and
14:40
based on its view it considers Polisario a pawn
14:43
of the Algerian military. That's just their position
14:46
on it we will likely talk about that more as
14:48
it goes. It has received vocal support from France
14:51
and occasionally and really right now from the
14:54
US. These negotiations would define the exact
14:56
limits of a western Sahara autonomy under Moroccan
14:59
rule but only after Morocco's inalienable rights
15:03
to the territory The Algerian government has
15:08
consistently refused, claiming it has neither
15:11
the will nor the right to negotiate on the behalf
15:13
of Polisario's front. I just have to say, I don't
15:17
think I knew how good Algeria acts in this area.
15:22
Like, how they're protecting Western Sahara in
15:25
all these conversations is quite surprising in
15:28
my mind. I don't know what to say on it, really.
15:33
No, fair enough, because you probably don't know
15:35
anything about most of these countries that are
15:37
involved in this. Mauritania, I still don't know
15:39
anything about them because they kind of fuck
15:41
off right off the start, so I didn't have to
15:43
look anything into them. But like Morocco and
15:46
like every other country in spied? of this story
15:49
it just seems like they want to colonize and
15:51
algeria is like no like these people own this
15:54
area and i get it because they have a ton of
15:56
refugees in their country right now yeah but
15:58
there's like let them be summarizes it yeah i'm
16:02
with algeria right now i think so may of 2005
16:05
demonstrations riots by supporters of independence
16:07
for a referendum broke out in the moroccan occupied
16:10
parts of western sahara and in parts of southern
16:12
morocco they were met by police several international
16:15
human rights organizations expressed concern
16:18
at what they termed abuse by Moroccan security
16:21
forces, and a number of Sawari activists have
16:23
been jailed. Pro -independent Sawari sources,
16:26
including the Polisario, have given these demonstrations
16:29
the name Independence Intifada, while most sources
16:33
have tended to see the events as being of limited
16:36
importance. International press and other media
16:39
coverage have been sparse, and reporting is complicated
16:42
by the Moroccan government's policy of strictly
16:44
controlling independent media coverage within
16:46
the territory. Alsario has intermittently threatened
16:49
to resume fighting, referring to the Moroccan
16:51
refusal of a referendum as a breach of the ceasefire
16:54
terms, but most observers seem to consider armed
16:57
conflict unlikely without the green light from
16:59
Algeria, which houses the Sawaris' refugee camps
17:02
and has been the main military sponsor of the
17:05
movement. Interesting. So, Algeria really is
17:09
the good guys, and Morocco just seems like a
17:12
bunch of douchebags about it. Yeah, and I should
17:15
say, I don't think I have at this point. I don't
17:17
think it actually comes up in my script at any
17:19
point. Algeria has literally a refugee town in
17:23
its territory that has a hundred and fifty thousand
17:25
people of Sicori origin. Okay, and why does Morocco
17:29
want it so bad? Is it because of the resources?
17:32
Yeah, it's the resources. Okay. The potential
17:35
for oil. And I will get into it. They have a
17:38
very big phosphorus processing plant in Western
17:41
Sahara. Yeah, you did mention some resources.
17:44
And I take it Morocco does not have refugee camp
17:48
because they're the ones causing. They have some
17:51
safari people, but for the most part, the refugee
17:54
camp is in Algeria. OK, in October of 2010. Ghadaym
17:59
-Izik camp was set up in Leyoun as a protest
18:03
by displaced Sahwari people about their living
18:05
conditions. It was home to more than 12 ,000
18:08
people. In November 2010, Moroccan security forces
18:11
entered Ghadaym -Izik camp in the early hours
18:14
of the morning, using helicopters and water cannons
18:16
to force the people to leave. The Polisario Front
18:19
said Moroccan security forces had killed a 26
18:22
-year -old protester at the camp, a claim denied
18:25
by Morocco. Protesters in Leyoun threw stones
18:28
at police and set fire to tires and vehicles,
18:31
and several buildings, including a TV station,
18:33
were also set on fire. Moroccan officials said
18:36
five security personnel have been killed in the
18:38
unrest. On November 15, 2010, the Moroccan government
18:41
accused the Algerian Secret Services of orchestrating
18:43
and financing the Gdansk music. camp in the attempt
18:46
to destabilize the region. The Spanish press
18:49
was accused of mounting a campaign of disinformation
18:52
to support the Suwari Initiative and all foreign
18:55
reporters were either prevented from traveling
18:58
or else expelled from the area. The protests
19:01
coincided with a fresh round of negotiations
19:03
at the UN for this territory. In 2016, the European
19:07
Union declared that Western Sahara is not part
19:11
of the Moroccan territory. In March 2016, Morocco
19:14
and expelled more than 70 UN civilian staffers
19:18
from MINURSO due to strained relations with Ban
19:23
Ki -moon, who was the head of the UN at the time,
19:26
who called Morocco's annexation of Western Sahara
19:28
an occupation. This is where things change in
19:32
the 2020s. The 2020s have been a diplomatic shift
19:36
in favor of Morocco, with several African states
19:39
opening consulates accredited to Morocco in Western
19:43
Sahara, implying de facto recognition. Even so,
19:46
the Polisario Front has seen limited victories
19:49
in cases brought before the African Court and
19:52
the European Court of Justice. In November 2020,
19:55
the ceasefire between the Polisario Front and
19:57
Morocco broke down, leading to an ongoing armed
20:00
clash between both sides. 10th of 2020, the US
20:05
announces that it will be recognizing Moroccan
20:11
sovereignty over Western Sahara in exchange for
20:14
Morocco signed the Abraham Accords. So long as
20:19
Morocco normalizes relations with Israel with
20:23
a view of establishment of diplomatic relations,
20:27
the U .S. will accept them as the de facto rulers
20:31
of Western Sahara. Following this, Israel efficiently
20:34
also recognizes Moroccan sovereignty over Western
20:37
Sahara in July of 2023. In February of 2021,
20:46
Morocco proposed to Spain the creation of an
20:49
autonomy for Western Sahara under the sovereignty
20:52
of King Morocco. So yeah, Western Sahara is a
20:55
thing, but it's in Morocco. In March of 2022,
20:59
the Spanish government abandoned its traditional
21:01
position of neutrality in the conflict, siding
21:03
with the Moroccan government and recognizing
21:05
the autonomy proposal, quote, as the most serious,
21:09
realistic, and credible basis for the resolution
21:11
of the dispute, end quote. This sudden turnaround
21:22
was generally directed by both the opposition,
21:25
the parties that make up the government, coalition,
21:27
the Polisario Front, as well as members of the
21:30
governing party who support a solution. Quote,
21:32
that respects the democratic will of the Sawari
21:35
people, end quote. And in October of 2024, in
21:38
a speech to the Parliament of Morocco, French
21:40
President Emmanuel Macron, just a general piece
21:43
of shit that you guys need to know about, backed
21:46
Morocco's autonomy proposal. Macron also unveiled
21:49
a 25 million euro investment in Guillaumin, you
21:53
read? noon, which includes parts of the Western
21:56
Sahara. In June 2025, UK Foreign Secretary David
22:00
Lammy stated that Morocco's plan for autonomy
22:05
in Western Sahara, quote, the most credible and
22:08
pragmatic, end quote, solution to the conflict.
22:11
October of 2025, the United Nations Security
22:14
Council references Morocco's autonomy proposal
22:17
as a basis for negotiation, quote, with a view
22:20
of achieving a just and lasting mutually acceptable
22:24
resolution to the dispute consistent with the
22:26
UN Charter." And they welcomed any constructive
22:30
suggestion by the parties in response to the
22:33
autonomy proposal. The resolution recognized
22:35
that, quote, genuine autonomy could represent
22:39
a most feasible outcome, end quote, and encouraged
22:42
the parties to submit ideas to support, quote,
22:45
a final mutually acceptable solution, end quote.
22:48
So everybody seems to kind of be on the side
22:51
of Morocco owning Western Sahara. The Western
23:13
Sahara conflict has resulted in severe human
23:16
rights abuses. And this is from Wikipedia, what
23:19
I'm reading this part. It is non -negotiable
23:22
that what I'm gonna say is correct. Yeah, if
23:26
Wikipedia is non -negotiable. The Western Sahara
23:29
conflict has resulted in severe human rights
23:32
abuses. constantly reported by external reporters
23:35
and human rights activists, most notably the
23:38
displacement of tens of thousands of Suwari civilians
23:42
from the country and numerous casualties of war
23:45
and repression. During the war years, 1975 to
23:49
1991, both sides accused each other of targeting
23:51
civilians. Moroccans' claims of Polisario terrorism
23:55
have generally had little to no support abroad
23:57
with the U .S. European Union, African Union,
24:00
and the UN, all refusing to include the groups
24:03
on their list of terrorist organizations. Polisario
24:06
leaders maintain that they are ideologically
24:08
opposed to terrorism and insist that collective
24:11
punishment and forced disappearances among safari
24:15
civilians should be considered state terrorism
24:17
on the part of Morocco. Both Morocco and the
24:20
Polisario additionally accuse each other of violating
24:23
the human rights of the population under their
24:26
control in the Moroccan -occupied parts of Western
24:29
Sahara and the Tindouf refugee camp in Algeria
24:32
respectively. Morocco has been repeatedly criticized
24:35
for its actions in the Western Sahara by international
24:37
human rights organizations which include Amnesty
24:40
International, Human Rights Watch, World Organization
24:43
Against Torture, Freedom House, Reporters Without
24:46
Borders, International Committee of the Red Cross,
24:49
UN High Commissioner of Human Rights, Defend
24:52
International, Frontline International Federation
24:55
of Human Rights. Society for Threatened Peoples,
25:00
Norwegian Refugee Cantals, among others. um Africa
25:20
unfortunately is just like a continent that we
25:23
have decided we do not need to report on yeah
25:26
exactly so it's just crazy we hear so much about
25:29
Gaza right now and Israel and Palestine and like
25:33
similar things are happening here and that's
25:36
funny you should say that keep that in mind as
25:38
we're going forward weirdly enough not all of
25:42
western Sahara is disputed by Morocco the portion
25:45
under occupation of the Moroccan government is
25:48
the area that lies between what's called the
25:50
border wall, which we're going to get to in a
25:52
bit, and the actual border from Algeria and Mauritania.
25:55
The Polisario Front claims to run this area as
25:57
the free zone on behalf of the Sahrawi people.
26:01
The area is patrolled by the Polisario forces
26:04
and access is restricted. even among safaris
26:08
due to the harsh climate of the Sahara the military
26:10
conflict. Despite this the areas traveled and
26:13
inhabited by many safari nomads from the Tinduth
26:17
refugee camps of Algeria and the Swarii communities
26:20
in Mauritania. United Nations forces are also
26:23
present in the area. The UN forces oversee the
26:26
ceasefire between Polisario and Morocco agreed
26:29
upon in the 1991 settlement plan. Major Swarii
26:33
political events such as the Polisario congresses
26:35
and the sessions of the Swarii National Council
26:37
are held in this free zone. since it is politically
26:41
and symbolically important to conduct political
26:43
affairs on safari territory. Why Morocco actually
26:47
wants this area? So they have a few things in
26:50
there. There's fishing, there's phosphorus, and
26:53
after reasonably exploitable oil fields were
26:55
located in Mauritania, speculation intensified
26:59
on the possibility of major oil resources being
27:02
located off the coast of western Sahara. Despite
27:05
the fact that findings remain inconclusive, both
27:08
Morocco and Polisario have signed deals with
27:11
oil and gas exploration companies. Chelsea, I
27:15
mentioned it earlier and just kind of in passing.
27:17
the wall in Western Sahara. Have you ever heard
27:21
of the Moroccan wall? I don't think so. So if
27:25
I were to tell you it was the second largest
27:28
man -made wall ever constructed, would you be
27:31
surprised? Yes. The Moroccan Wall of Western
27:35
Sahara, also known as the Moroccan Wall or simply
27:37
the Burm, is one of the least talked about militarized
27:42
zones in the world, despite holding the record
27:45
as the world's longest continuous minefield.
27:49
It consists of long sandbanks, military fortification,
27:53
and an estimated 7 -10 million buried landmines,
27:57
as well as large quantities of unexploded ordinances.
28:01
The Moroccan Wall finds its origins in 1975 when
28:05
the Spanish occupation of Western Sahara ended.
28:08
As Spanish troops retreated from the region,
28:11
neighboring countries Morocco and Mauritania
28:13
swooped in to divide the territory between themselves,
28:16
ignoring the wishes of the local Sahrawi people
28:18
who had been fighting for independence since
28:20
1960. In 1976, the Sahrawi formed a national
28:24
liberation rebel movement called the Pulsario.
28:27
Armed conflicts erupted in the region and although
28:30
Mauritania withdrew in 1979, Morocco continued
28:33
its occupation. Due to the good knowledge of
28:36
the battlefield and effectiveness of the guerrilla
28:39
tactics undertaken by the Suwaris, Morocco suffered
28:42
significant military losses and they began to
28:45
construct a defensive line stretching 2 ,700
28:49
kilometers or 1 ,680 miles through western Sahara.
28:53
This is the Moroccan Wall, directed by Morocco
28:57
with the assistance of Israeli military experts,
29:01
French and American advisors, and generous funding
29:03
from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf countries and
29:06
took six successive construction phases from
29:09
1980 to 1987. This is taking a turn with building
29:13
a wall from just claiming that it's theirs. They're
29:16
now building a wall. Oh yeah, they've made it
29:19
so that the safari people cannot go into their
29:21
land ever again. But like they want them to be
29:25
a part of Morocco. They want the land to be part
29:28
of Morocco. Not the people. Not the people who
29:31
are claiming it. Oh no. So they built a twenty
29:34
seven hundred kilometer long wall to push these
29:37
people out and they put seven to ten million
29:40
landmines around the wall. Oh my God. It is still
29:44
the longest mined area in the world. This is
29:48
insane. Part of my ignorance. Is this going the
29:51
way of like genocide? Oh yeah. Oh. At the very
29:55
least ethnic cleansing. Like they cleanse the
29:57
land of the Sohari people. Beg my innocence again.
30:00
Why would they want to get rid of the people?
30:02
They want the land. They've been putting people,
30:05
Moroccan people in Western Sahara for years.
30:07
Oh and it's because they don't want to be part
30:09
of, they want independence. So they're just getting
30:12
in the way. Okay. Okay. So the wall is a fortification
30:15
of sand or stone embankments, double or triple,
30:18
with a height of 2 .5 meters and depth of 1 .5
30:21
meters. It's usually about 10 feet tall and about
30:24
five feet wide. Jesus Christ. And then Israel
30:28
comes in. They're like, this sounds like a great
30:30
idea. We'll help. Nice. It stretches along high
30:33
topographic points like peaks and mountains,
30:36
protected by bunkers, ditches, and anti -tank
30:38
trenches. Barbed wire and littered with 8 -10
30:41
million landmines. The wall is monitored by electronic
30:44
detection system's radar. guarded by more than
30:47
120 ,000 Moroccan soldiers equipped with sophisticated
30:50
weapons. That's messed up. When construction
30:52
ended in 1987, the Burm separated the region
30:55
in two, the eastern part was controlled by SADR,
30:59
the Sahwari people, and two -thirds of western
31:02
Sahara, where almost all economic activity actually
31:05
happens, remained with Moroccan control. The
31:08
completion of the Moroccan Wall, along with the
31:10
completion of various counterinsurgency tactics,
31:14
significantly reduced the effectiveness of SADR's
31:17
guerrilla war and led to a stalemate that continues
31:20
to this day. Since 1991, the territory adjacent
31:23
to the wall has been under the control of the
31:25
UN forces monitoring the ceasefire. The Sahrawi
31:28
people, who advocate for the independence of
31:30
Western Sahara, call Morocco's fortification
31:32
the Wall of Shame, considering it an obstacle
31:35
to the integration of the two parts to a single
31:37
nation. Unfortunately, the millions of mines
31:40
buried beneath the sand and the large quantities
31:42
of unexploded ordinances from the war routinely
31:45
cause serious injuries and deaths among the local
31:48
population. Interestingly enough, the Berm is
31:51
not only the world's longest minefield but also
31:54
the second longest wall in the world after the
31:56
Great Wall of China. whole time like how does
32:15
this come into play because this is very far
32:17
from suede i'm gonna read you part of a news
32:21
article from july 20th of 2026 chelsea like i'm
32:24
pretty sure if you're a pretty good jumper you
32:26
could just jump from there to spain over the
32:29
water just kidding that's 12 miles like a really
32:34
good jump really good jumper On July 20, 2026,
32:38
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said in
32:41
Algiers on Monday that he sought to deepen ties
32:45
with Algeria as the country mends relations after
32:48
a dispute over Western Sahara. Sanchez told reporters
32:53
that the visit, a first in four years, held,
32:55
quote, particular importance, end quote, for
32:58
Spain, which views Algiers as, quote, not only
33:01
a neighboring country, but also a strategic partner,
33:03
end quote. The premier, who was accompanied by
33:06
senior Spanish energy executives, said Algeria
33:09
was Spain's largest supplier of natural gas this
33:12
year. Ties between Algiers and Madrid deteriorated
33:15
in 2022, when Spain backed Morocco's sovereignty
33:18
claims over Western Sahara, reversing its decades
33:21
-long neutral stance on the conflict over its
33:24
former colony. Spain's ship had anchored Algeria,
33:27
which backed the pro -independence Polisario
33:29
front in Western Sahara. Algeria's president,
33:32
Abdelmedged Tabun, said at the news conference
33:35
at Algiers that talks with Sanchez were fruitful
33:38
and frank, and visits gave bilateral relations
33:41
a quote, new impetus." End quote. So about a
33:45
week before the migrant crisis happened, Spain
33:49
was meeting with Algeria saying like, yeah, you
33:51
know what? We like you guys and you like Western
33:53
Sahara being sovereign. And you know, I'm just
33:56
gathering from this whole episode. This is all
33:59
new stuff to me, by the way. Morocco seems like
34:02
they play nice. Seems. Seem in that way. Did
34:05
you know that's not the first migrant crisis
34:08
at that border, Chelsea, with Sueta? Well, yeah,
34:11
I mean, I think they had an ongoing issue with
34:14
migrants from Morocco with Spain. Oh, no, I'm
34:18
talking about a very specific incident in May
34:21
of 2021. which was considered a border incident.
34:25
8 ,000 people entered Sueta from over the border
34:29
within two days, most swimming around the breakwater
34:32
and among whom were numerous unaccompanied minors.
34:35
This episode followed a diplomatic crisis triggered
34:38
by Spain's hospitalization of Brahim Ghali, secretary
34:41
general of Polisario Front, who was treated at
34:44
the hospitals San Pedro and La Grono due to a
34:48
case of COVID, for which Spain had not issued
34:50
a prior notice to Morocco. So they had previously
34:54
had a migrant crisis right at that border because
34:58
they had done something nice for the Western
35:00
Sahara. So this seems to be a tactic that Morocco
35:04
uses when they're pissed off at Spain. But not
35:06
only that, immediately upon this happening, we
35:11
get tweets and truths coming out from people
35:14
about specifically this migrant crisis. From
35:17
Israel, we get Bangavir saying, my congratulations
35:20
to the president of the government of Spain,
35:23
Pedro Sanchez, for his deep commitment to welcoming
35:26
immigrant and human diversity. What? As someone
35:29
who shows great concern for Hamas and the residents
35:32
of Gaza, I call on you to translate words into
35:34
action. Open the doors of Spain and refuge to
35:37
the residents of Gaza who are seeking to emigrate.
35:41
Excellent opportunity to contribute a little
35:43
more to the human diversity of Spain. That's
35:46
the end of his quote. That's weird. And we get
35:49
really weird statements from Trump too, but for
35:52
the most part, they're directed towards the American
35:55
group. So like, we're not going to focus too
35:57
much on them. You can take any tweet from Trump
36:00
is weird. But Spain also has their suspicions
36:04
too about why this happened. So Gabriel Rufian,
36:07
the parliamentary spokesperson for the Republican
36:10
left of Catalonia and left wing party argued
36:13
that the crisis served American in his interests.
36:17
Spanish journalist José Vizner meanwhile shared
36:20
a 2019 social media post of Yair Netanyahu, the
36:24
son of Israeli Prime Minister discussing alleged
36:26
Israeli support for the separatism in Ceuta.
36:30
Prominent Spanish actor Javier Bardem shared
36:33
a video accusing Israel of being behind the crossings.
36:36
Former Portuguese minister and commentator Bruno
36:40
Massey said that quote whether or not the US
36:42
and Israel were involved before the the fact
36:45
they were deeply involved and intensively active
36:47
after the fact, especially trying to use it against
36:51
the current Spanish government," end quote. So
36:54
like whether or not they were actually involved,
36:56
man, they sure liked the outcome. And weirdly
36:58
enough, Morocco, huge fan of Trump right now.
37:02
So much so that guess what, Chelsea? What? Morocco
37:05
has named a new highway in the occupied Western
37:08
Sahara after US President Donald Trump, prompting
37:11
a message of gratitude from the US leader. The
37:16
President Donald T. Trump Highway is 1 ,055 kilometers
37:20
long and connects Piznet in Western Morocco with
37:23
the city of Dakla in Western Sahara. Writing
37:26
on True Social, Trump praised Morocco for the
37:28
move and posted a video boasting the $1 billion
37:31
invested in the road. Quote, thank you to highly
37:34
respected Mohammed VI, the King of Morocco. Such
37:37
a great honor. I look forward to traveling the
37:40
entire length of this great highway someday.
37:42
Hopefully soon. President Donald J. Trump, he
37:45
wrote. But yeah, Chelsea, that's what I've got.
37:48
Do you have any questions? Because there's more
37:50
I could tell you, but like I felt like that's
37:52
the most linear story. I learned a lot. That
37:54
was a lot to take in. I feel like I've heard
37:57
a lot more speculation than that. This one sounds
38:01
right. This one sounds like what happened. I'm
38:03
not going to bring up the other stuff because
38:05
I've been trying not to listen to it, but I've
38:08
heard a lot more conspiracy theories. Fair enough.
38:10
But yeah, like Morocco, because the U .S. and
38:14
Israel have like fully backed. them on annexing
38:17
this area has just like intertwined themselves
38:19
in that yeah no it's pretty though the big speculation
38:23
I've heard is that the US is actually worried
38:25
about Spain cutting off the US's military entrance
38:29
to the Mediterranean because Spain has rightfully
38:33
so been very adamant that the US has been terrible
38:37
and Israel is committing war crimes not even
38:40
war crimes crimes against humanity and should
38:42
not be allowed access like to areas pretty shitty
38:45
to see. So that's part of the reason that they're
38:47
trying to get Ceuta out of the hands of Spain.
38:50
It makes a lot of sense. I'm glad you just outright
38:54
said that because I couldn't read between those
38:56
lines. Part of it is that Morocco can allow access
39:00
or deny access through Mediterranean. Right now
39:03
Spain technically has that power. Because they
39:06
have Ceuta. Yeah, so they're on both sides to
39:08
the entrance, yeah? Exactly, yeah. But if Morocco
39:11
was in charge of it, then they would be fine.
39:13
You know what? That Franco guy just really, it's
39:17
such a shitty guy, and Spain's still recovering.
39:20
It's not well known enough how shitty he was
39:21
either. It is, and Spain's still recovering from
39:24
a lot of the stuff that Franco has done, and
39:27
you just look at this, and it's him that started
39:29
all of this shit. With, you know, just being
39:32
like, fuck it, like, fuck these people, I don't
39:34
care. this and with a little more care or whatnot
39:39
I know there's a lot of political stuff around
39:42
this that I'm not gonna get the um the proper
39:45
wording for but he's just like yeah you guys
39:48
sorted out your fucking selves and this is what
39:51
happens and it's so sad like these are people
39:54
they don't deserve to be treated like this i
39:56
did not know all of this i kept my ears shut
39:59
enough for this all to be new to me i learned
40:02
a lot of history this is where i learn a lot
40:04
of my stuff actually i'm not sure how i made
40:07
it through life but i wouldn't be surprised if
40:09
it's something new for people listening because
40:11
like i said earlier so much of this stuff is
40:14
glossed over or not heard at all. I mean, a lot
40:18
of what people get now is their news from social
40:21
media. Oh yeah, for sure. And you know what's
40:23
crazy? Like one of my sources was genocidewatch
40:26
.com for the safari people. All of a sudden it's
40:30
on my radar simply because it could happen here
40:33
did something on it a couple weeks ago. I had
40:37
otherwise never heard of it before. So I would
40:40
go on a limb to say a lot of people will have
40:43
had no idea about this either. But I think what
40:46
you're saying regarding this makes perfect sense.
40:49
And frankly, I think this episode also kind of
40:52
gives us Pedro Sanchez is actually a pretty good
40:54
leader. Like he's doing a great job in Spain
40:57
right now. from what i have heard because i don't
41:00
follow it completely from what i've heard yes
41:03
it sounds like he is doing a fairly good job
41:05
like yeah there's people who dislike him and
41:07
there's reasons to dislike him but man for like
41:10
his human right side he is doing a great job
41:13
i would agree with that i mean uh yeah yeah i
41:18
can only say so much because i don't know a whole
41:20
lot Fair enough. Yes, and he's the president
41:24
of the country who won the World Cup. So he's
41:26
gotta be doing something, right? He played in
41:29
it, right? Pretty sure. Yeah. That's how soccer
41:33
works. Yeah, and Malay's in charge of Argentina
41:36
and they lost, so he's bad. Morocco bad. That's
41:40
how it works. We all saw the game. Well. I did,
41:44
at least. Most people saw the game. Well, I learned
41:48
something and I am fully in support of this.
41:51
Is it a theory? I guess it would be a theory
41:53
because no one just outright said this is what's
41:55
happening. It's technically a theory, but it's
41:57
pretty straightforward that it's exactly why
41:59
this happens. It was presented very straightforward,
42:00
so I'm behind it. I think everybody's the wiser
42:03
for having listened and we weirdly have a better
42:06
understanding the most if you've listened to
42:08
this podcast of Western Africa than most people.
42:12
Yeah, especially the one about the drunkard society.
42:16
No, that's not the - Yeah, we got Ghana. You
42:19
guys understand Ghana better than most people.
42:21
Yeah, like I know so much about Africa. You know
42:23
what? That was really ignorant of me to say,
42:25
but it is more than I'd know without this podcast.
42:30
Unfortunately. We know Western Africa. It's messed
42:33
up. Some of Western Africa. It's messed up. We
42:35
don't know the east side at all. I know. It's
42:37
messed up that we don't know like anything of
42:40
what's going on over there. And that's the point
42:43
I'm trying to make. I'm not trying to be ignorant
42:45
here. I gotta stop talking. And yeah, this is
42:51
probably a good place to stop it. I have been
42:53
Taylor here with Chelsea. We are Journey to the
42:55
Fringe. Thank you all for listening. We'll see
42:57
you next week. Bye. Thank you for listening to
43:03
Journey to the Fringe. If you have liked what
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43:37
For now, I'll see you in the next episode.