Link to Article: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/11/7/moroccos-king-says-western-sahara-status-not-up-for-debate
Morocco stills claims that it has sovereignty over Western Sahara. The King of Morocco Mohamed VI has said “today as in the past, Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara will never be up for negotiation”. Recently three Algerians were killed by Moroccans in Western Sahara and the Algerian President has claimed the deaths “would not go unpunished”. Morocco has not responded to the accusation from Algeria yet. Morocco claims all of the territory in Western Sahara as its own while Algeria supports the Polisario Front independence movement which has been fighting for independence for almost 50 years.
Morocco claims Western Sahara as their own because the former King of Morocco in 1975 held the Green March which had over 350,000 Moroccans voluntarily go over to Western Sahara so that when the Spanish gave up their former colony the land would be given to Morocco instead of being made into a different country. Since this happened back in the seventies the Polisario Front independence movement has been going on to make Western Sahara its own country instead of being under the control of Morocco. This movement has been supported by the Algerians as it will weaken the Moroccans.
Western Sahara is a disputed territory between Morocco and the Sahrawi Democratic Republic. The Sahrawi Democratic Republic is a quasi state as it acts on its own accord. This state is currently in control of around 20 percent of Western Sahara. It is unlikely that it will become a country anytime soon since Morocco recognized Israel in return for the United States supporting the Moroccan claim to Western Sahara. However, this was under a previous administration so it could be subject to change. Since the United States has solidified ties it would not make sense to support Western Sahara becoming a country.