On November 6th, 2020, Morocco celebrates the 45th Anniversary of the glorious Green March. It is one of the most significant epics in the history of Morocco and a milestone in the process of completing the territorial integrity of the Kingdom.
The Green March has a strong symbolic meaning for Morocco. This historical event constitutes the best illustration of the effective cohesion between the Throne and the people, and a pivotal moment that remains forever engraved in the annals of Morocco and which enabled the country to recover peacefully its Southern Provinces.
The celebration of this significant event is an occasion to remember the struggle of Moroccan people and late King Hassan II against the Spanish occupation and to pay tribute to Moroccans who devoted their lives to liberate the kingdom from colonization.
On October 16th, 1975, following the confirmation by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague of the existence of legal ties and allegiance between the Sultans of Morocco and the Sahrawi tribes, the late King Hassan II announced the organization of the Green March in a famous speech addressed to the Nation, a unique peaceful and civilized march.
On November 6, 1975, more than 350,000 civilian and unarmed Moroccan volunteers, coming from all regions of the Kingdom, brandishing the Holy Quran and the national flag and convinced of the rightness of their cause, responded to the call, by joining this march to the south of the Kingdom. This march demonstrated to the whole world the strong will of the Moroccan people to recover their looted territory and reflected the genuine and wise vision of the late Sovereign.
“As underlined by His Majesty King Mohammed VI, the Green March is a never-ending march, since its spirit is the same one according to which Morocco continues its march towards progress and development of all its regions, including the Southern Provinces”
Today, this part of the Kingdom is experiencing an unprecedented economic, social, cultural and environmental progress, thanks to the development and investment policy and the significant resources allotted to this aim through the development plan for the Southern Provinces. Moreover, the Sahara region is becoming an economic hub and a leading South-South cooperation pole and stands today as a geostrategic space of reference, for peace, stability and shared prosperity.
Furthermore, and in addition to this economic and social momentum, the Southern Provinces of Morocco are experiencing a diplomatic breakthrough and a great dynamic with the opening of many African and Arab consulates (16 countries) especially at Laayoune and Dakhla. The latest is that of the United Arab Emirates on the current November 4th.
This dynamic, as highlighted, by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccan Expatriates, M. Nasser Bourita, “goes in the direction of increased support for the Moroccan identity of the Sahara, a reality which is neither negotiable nor debatable, stressing that the Sahara is Moroccan by law, by history, by the will of its population and by the growing support of the international community and the friends of Morocco”.
This momentum was also confirmed by the last Resolution 2548, adopted by the Security Council, on October 30th, 2020, which reinforces Morocco’s approach based on international legality, the will of the people and the reality on the ground.
This Resolution reiterates expressly the role of Algeria in this regional dispute and calls this neighboring country to shoulder a role commensurate with its political, diplomatic, military and humanitarian involvement. It renews also the commitment of the Security Council for a realistic, pragmatic and lasting political solution based on compromise, thus ruling out all inapplicable options claimed by other parties.