ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the origins of the Western Sahara Question and the Territory's status as a Non-Self-Governing Territory (NSGT) under the UN Charter. It goes on to discuss the evolution of the principle of self-determination as a matter of international law and its application in this context. Consequently, it analyses the UN General Assembly's early engagement with the Western Sahara Question during the period of Spanish colonial rule. It also examines the background to Morocco's longstanding sovereignty claim to Western Sahara; the International Court of Justice's (ICJ’s) 1975 Western Sahara Advisory Opinion; Spain's subsequent withdrawal from the Territory; Morocco's armed conflict with the Polisario Front, and its move to annex Western Sahara. The chapter also sets out the Polisaro's struggle to secure and maintain the recognition of third States and International Organisations (IOs) for the purported statehood of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, and the concomitant practice in this regard.
