“Trump, Make America Great—Not Morocco”: Sahrawi Defiance in the Face of Occupation — Refugees Reject U.S.-Moroccan Maneuvers to Erase the Right to Self-Determination
✍️ BY: Dr. Hana Saada
Algiers – October 2025 – As the Western Sahara conflict approaches its fiftieth year of exile, the Sahrawi people are once again raising their voices against what they denounce as renewed attempts to obliterate their inalienable right to self-determination. On the eve of the United Nations Security Council vote on a U.S.-sponsored draft resolution concerning Western Sahara, thousands of Sahrawi refugees took to the streets of the camps in Tindouf, denouncing what they described as Washington’s complicity in legitimizing Morocco’s continued occupation.
For several days, the refugee camps have transformed into a powerful theatre of protest, echoing chants of resistance and banners declaring, “We will never be Moroccan” and “Trump, make America great—not Morocco.” These slogans, delivered under the blazing Saharan sun, carry a single, unambiguous message: the Sahrawi people refuse to accept any settlement that denies their right to freely choose their future through a genuine referendum under UN supervision.
U.S.–Moroccan Collusion Under Fire
The protests erupted amid intense diplomatic deliberations in New York, where the U.S. circulated a draft resolution seeking to renew the mandate of the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) for only six months—while subtly redefining the political framework of the conflict by centering Morocco’s “autonomy plan” as the sole basis for a solution.
This move, viewed by observers as a flagrant deviation from three decades of international consensus, effectively sidelines the principle of self-determination enshrined in successive UN resolutions. Demonstrators in Tindouf accused Washington of “twisting international legality to serve Rabat’s geopolitical agenda,” with one protester, Ali, telling Spain’s EFE news agency, “I would rather remain a refugee forever than become Moroccan.”
Algeria, Russia, and China Push Back Against Washington’s Text
The American-drafted resolution, introduced on October 22, has met staunch resistance from Algeria, Russia, and China. The Polisario Front, representing the Sahrawi people, addressed a formal letter to Moscow—this month’s rotating president of the Security Council—declaring its categorical rejection of any political process based on the new document.
Diplomatic sources confirmed that both Moscow and Beijing expressed deep dissatisfaction with Washington’s wording, which deliberately omits references to a referendum and self-determination—the cornerstone of the UN-recognized peace process. Both powers have hinted they may exercise their veto rights should the United States insist on pushing the resolution forward without substantial revision.
Meanwhile, Algeria has launched a vigorous diplomatic campaign, rallying allies to reshape the text into one “more balanced,” reaffirming the legal and colonial nature of the Western Sahara question and restoring the UN’s foundational principles of decolonization.
A Vote That May Redefine the Struggle
Originally scheduled for Thursday, the Security Council vote was postponed to Friday following marathon negotiations—an unmistakable sign of the deep divisions within the Council and the global sensitivity surrounding the issue. Many see this moment as potentially transformative, capable of redrawing the contours of international engagement with the Western Sahara conflict.
The scene recalls the controversial 2020 declaration by then-U.S. President Donald Trump recognizing Morocco’s sovereignty over the occupied territory in exchange for Rabat’s normalization of ties with Tel Aviv—an act the UN never endorsed and which it deemed a blatant violation of international law.
Five years later, echoes of that political transaction resurface, with Washington seemingly attempting once again to reshape North Africa’s balance of power—this time at the expense of the Sahrawi people’s historical and legitimate rights.
Independence, Not Autonomy
In the heart of the Algerian desert, generations of Sahrawi refugees who have never seen their ancestral homeland continue to cling to the dream of statehood and liberation. Aïcha, a young woman born in Tindouf, summed up the sentiment shared by thousands: “We are the Polisario Front. We are the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic. We want freedom, not Moroccan autonomy.”
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