Statehood in Exile: The Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic

Spain, the colonial administrator of Western Sahara, entered into an agreement with Morocco and Mauritania in 1975. The agreement conceded to territorial claims of Morocco and Mauritania. The people of Western Sahara resisted the agreement and the subsequent occupation of their country by Morocco and Mauritania. What followed was war, led by the liberation movement POLISARIO Front and the flight of many Sahrawis. Part of the resistance of the Sahrawis was the declaration of the State of Western Sahara: the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) in 1976. With the declaration of the SADR, a first preliminary constitution was enacted. The constitution in force is the Constitution of 2023. The constitutional development, now spanning over 50 years, has been inspired by the expectation to exercise the right to self-determination, but also reflects the process of state-building that responds to the reality of living in refugee camps and to military encounters with Morocco.