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A growing number of Polisario members is challenging the decades-long obstinacy of the Algeria-backed Polisario militias, urging the international community to embrace Morocco’s autonomy proposal as a path toward peace and dignity.
In a striking intervention before the UN General Assembly’s Fourth Committee, representatives of an NGO called Sahrawis for Peace, which brings together former Polisario members, called for a decisive break from what they described as “rigid slogans and radicalism” that have kept thousands of Sahrawis trapped in refugee camps and political limbo for nearly half a century in full sight of Algerian authorities.
“We are not the voice of the Polisario, nor of Morocco, nor of any neighboring state. We are Sahrawis who are tired of war and exile, but also the voice of those who still believe in a future of peace,” Ahmed Barikallah, the group’s First Secretary, said.
The movement, founded in 2020, has emerged as a grassroots alternative to the Polisario, which it accuses of spreading a false separatist narrative, while holding thousands of Sahrawis hostage.
Barikallah’s speech painted a picture of disillusionment among Sahrawis, elders yearning to return home, youth rejecting inherited exile, and mothers longing to raise children in peace in their homeland in southern Morocco.
The group’s endorsement of Morocco’s 2007 autonomy plan marks a significant departure from the Polisario’s long standing separatist demands.
Mohamed Cherif, head of external relations for Sahrawis for Peace, presented a detailed proposal for a special governance system under Moroccan sovereignty, including a locally elected parliament, council of elders, independent judiciary, and regional security forces.
Cherif argued that such a framework could pave the way for reconciliation and development, allowing Sahrawis- held against their will by the Polisario in Algerian territory- to reclaim their dignity and actively shape their future.
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