Pillaging Western Sahara’s Wealth: The Dark Economics of Moroccan Occupation and the Systematic Dispossession of the Sahrawi People
✍️ BY: Dr. Hana Saada
Algiers – November 2025 – In his incisive analysis for The Independent, international writer Juan Rodríguez exposes one of the most concealed yet consequential dimensions of the Western Sahara conflict: Morocco’s systematic exploitation of the territory’s natural resources under an occupation that lacks international recognition. Far from being a marginal subplot, the economic dimension lies at the very core of the conflict, revealing that the Moroccan presence in Western Sahara is not only political and military—but profoundly extractive, commercial, and strategically calculated.
Since the early 2000s, Morocco has progressively expanded its resource-driven footprint in the occupied territory. It began with the issuance of oil exploration licenses off Sahrawi shores, followed by large-scale agricultural ventures reliant on underground water reserves, the intensive exploitation of Sahrawi fishing grounds, the commercial export of desert sand for construction, and more recently, investments in solar and photovoltaic projects marketed as part of a “green transition.”
The scale of these operations is alarming, but the question of legitimacy is even more unsettling. How can an occupying power—whose sovereignty over the territory is not recognized by the United Nations—legally exploit the resources of the land it occupies? Rodríguez underscores the controversial role of European Union–Morocco agreements, particularly in agriculture and fisheries, which have repeatedly faced legal scrutiny for including Sahrawi territory without securing the consent of the Sahrawi people, the rightful owners of the land.
Beyond legality lies the profound ethical dilemma: Do Sahrawis benefit from any of this wealth? Evidence suggests they do not. The vast majority remain in refugee camps in Tindouf, entirely detached from the projects touted as “developmental” by Moroccan authorities. In the occupied areas, foreign or Moroccan-owned companies dominate the exploitation cycle, with profits circulating into non-Sahrawi hands, deepening marginalization and demographic engineering.
Morocco’s so-called “green strategy” represents another layer of calculated deception. While framed as environmentally sustainable development, these projects function as instruments of entrenchment—using the language of clean energy to normalize and solidify an illegal occupation. The fusion of environmental discourse with extractive investment serves as a sophisticated propaganda tool masking colonial consolidation.
From a legal perspective, these practices raise severe questions under international law. Rights organizations consistently affirm that resource exploitation without the consent—and absent direct, tangible benefit—of the indigenous Sahrawi population constitutes a violation of their right to self-determination. The central question remains: Is there any measurable, direct advantage for Sahrawis? All indicators point to a resounding no.
For Algeria, which consistently defends Sahrawis’ right to independence, these economic policies form part of a broader, externally financed colonial enterprise rather than genuine local development. The siphoning of Sahrawi wealth is not an isolated economic act—it is a cornerstone of the Moroccan occupation, inseparable from the political dispossession and systemic repression imposed by the Makhzen.
Ultimately, the issue of Sahrawi resources is not a technical matter of contracts or trade flows; it is fundamentally a question of dignity, sovereignty, and justice. Allowing Morocco to continue plundering these resources without international accountability amounts to tacit endorsement of economic colonialism. The international community must elevate this dossier urgently within global justice frameworks, ensuring that Sahrawi rights—long ignored and systematically eroded—are restored before plunder becomes the new normalized reality.
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