System of the Moroccan Walls in Western Sahara (territory outside them in yellow)

The Moroccan Wall is a 2,720 km-long system of defensive walls/berms, running mainly through Moroccan-controlled Western Sahara. A minor section is located in the southeastern portion of Morocco. It is dubbed The Wall of Shame by the Polisario Front and other Sahrawi independence-seekers. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (904x727, 37 KB) Summary Map of the w:Moroccan Wall in w:Western Sahara - built over several stages, shows the six walls built, & when the territory was behind Moroccan wall. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (904x727, 37 KB) Summary Map of the w:Moroccan Wall in w:Western Sahara - built over several stages, shows the six walls built, & when the territory was behind Moroccan wall. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Separation barrier. ... A berm is a level space or shelf separating two features. ... Sahrawi (also Saharawi, Arabic SaHrāwī) is a term used for the indigenous people of Western Sahara, but there are also Sahrawi communities in other countries. ...

Physical structure

The barrier is longer than the Israeli West Bank barrier and the Berlin Wall. It consists of sand and stone walls about three meters in height, with bunkers, fences and landmines throughout. Military bases, artillery posts and airfields dot the interior behind the wall at regular intervals, and radar masts and other electronic surveillance equipment scan the areas in front of it. The barrier route as of May 2005. ... Berlin Wall on June 7, 2003 The Berlin Wall (German: Die Berliner Mauer) was a long barrier separating West Berlin from East Berlin and the surrounding territory of East Germany. ... Patterns in the sand Sand is an example of a class of materials called granular matter. ... Stone can refer to any of the following: Stone may be used as a building material, as in this dry stone wall Look up stone in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... A fence is a freestanding structure designed to restrict or prevent movement across a boundary. ... Various anti-tank and anti-personnel land mines A landmine is a type of self-contained explosive device which is placed onto or into the ground, exploding when triggered by a vehicle or person. ... This long range radar antenna (approximately 40m (130ft) in diameter) rotates on a track to observe activities near the horizon. ...

It was gradually built beginning in 1983, with its main function being to protect the Moroccan-controlled portions of Western Sahara against the guerrilla fighters of the Polisario Front, who have sought Western Saharan independence since before Spain ended its colonial occupation in 1975. Effectively, the Polisario controls all areas to the east of the barrier, but these areas are mostly uninhabited. Units from the United Nations mission MINURSO separate the two sides. 1983 (MCMLXXXIII) is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Distinguish from the type of ape called a gorilla. ... The Polisario, Polisario Front, or Frente Polisario, from the Spanish abbreviation of Frente Popular de Liberación de Saguía el Hamra y Río de Oro (Popular Front for the Liberation of Saguia el-Hamra and Rio de Oro) is a Sahrawi movement working for the independence of Western... 1975 (MCMLXXV) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1975 calendar). ... Main articles: League of Nations and History of the United Nations The term United Nations was coined by Franklin D. Roosevelt during World War II, to refer to the Allies. ... MINURSO is a UN peacekeeping mission, established in 1991 to monitor the ceasefire and to organize and conduct a referendum which would enable the people of Western Sahara to choose between integration with Morocco and independence. ...

Many of Western Sahara's native Sahrawi people live as refugees in camps in the Tindouf province of Algeria, where the Polisario is based. Because the barrier is doubled in many places, with a significant distance between the two halves, many Sahrawis live in this no-man's-land with profound constraints on mobility and accessibility. Sahrawi (also Saharawi, Arabic SaHrāwī) is a term used for the indigenous people of Western Sahara, but there are also Sahrawi communities in other countries. ... Tindouf, also written Tinduf, (Arabic: تندوف) is a city and wilaya in the west of Algeria, population 30,000. ... Mobility is the ability and willingness to move or change; this can depend on motor skills, special tools such as a walking stick, walker or wheelchair, vehicles, uncongested roads, public transport; mobility with regard to ones home depends on availability of houses and being bound to an area because... Accessibility is a general term used to describe how easy it is for people to get to, use, and understand things. ...

International reaction

Western attention to the Moroccan Wall, and to the Morocco annexation of the Western Sahara in general, has been minimal, apart from in Spain. Once a year, a small demonstration is held against the barrier by a few human rights activists, many of them Italian. Human rights are rights which some hold to be inalienable and belonging to all humans. ...

In Africa, the annexation of Western Sahara by Morocco has attracted somewhat more attention: Algeria, which supports the Polisario, and the Organization of African Unity/African Union and United Nations have proposed negotiated solutions. Africa is the worlds second-largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. ... Flag of the Organisation of African Unity, later also used by the African Union. ... Anthem: Let us all unite and celebrate together Official languages The African languages, as well as Arabic, Swahili, English, French and Portuguese Some member states have other official languages. ... Main articles: League of Nations and History of the United Nations The term United Nations was coined by Franklin D. Roosevelt during World War II, to refer to the Allies. ...

Construction of the wall

The wall was built in six stages, and the area behind the wall was expanded from a small area near Morocco in the north, to most of the western and central part of the country gradually. The walls built were:

• 1st wall (Aug 1980-Jun 1982) surrounding the "useful triangle" of El-Aaiun, Smara and the phosphate mines at Bu Craa.
• 2nd wall (Dec 1983-Jan 1984)
• 3rd wall (Apr 1984-May 1984)
• 4th wall (Dec 1984-Jan 1985)
• 5th wall (May-Sep 1985)
• 6th wall (Feb-Apr 1987)

El-Aaiún or Laâyoune (Arabic: العيون, transliterated al-`ayūn), is the unofficial capital of Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony now mostly controlled and occupied by Morocco. ... Smara, also Semara, is a Sahrawi city (50,000 in 1999) in the Moroccan-occupied Western Sahara. ... In chemistry, a phosphate is a polyatomic ion or radical consisting of one phosphorus atom and four oxygen. ... Bou Craa (Bo Craa, Bu Craa) is a town in the Saguia el-Hamra regions of northern Western Sahara, south and slightly west of the capital, El Aaiún. ...

See also

• Separation barrier
• History of Western Sahara
• Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic

Separation barriers (separation walls, security fences) are constructed to prevent the movement of people across a certain line or border or to separate two populations. ... // Background The Western Sahara area has never formed a state in the modern sense of the word. ... The Saharawi (or Sahrawi) Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) is the long-form English translation of the government of Western Sahara (Arabic: الجمهورية العربية الصحراوية الدمقرطية, Spanish: República Arabe Saharaui Democrática). ...

External links

• Western Sahara Online: Moroccan Wall of Shame
• Article in Dutch with a map of the barriers
• Detailed Minurso map showing the outer barrier
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