Asamblea Majorera-Coalición Canaria urges the University of La Laguna and the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria not to legitimise the Moroccan occupation of Western Sahara following an institutional visit to study centres in Dakhla and Laayoune.
Asamblea Majorera-Coalición Canaria (AM-CC) has criticised the public universities in the Canary Islands for a recent institutional visit to study centres in Western Sahara, a territory it considers occupied by Morocco. The party, in a statement released this Saturday, demands that international resolutions regarding the self-determination of the Sahrawi people be respected.
The trigger for this has been the visit of a delegation from the Association of Public Universities of the Canary Islands (UPCAN) to the Ibn Zohr Universities and the Mohamed VI University campus in Dakhla. There, the Canary representatives held meetings with Moroccan authorities who, according to AM-CC, administer what they call "occupied territory."
Criticism of the ULL rector for referring to Dakhla and Laayoune as "Moroccan"
The party has focused on the statements made by the rector of the University of La Laguna, Francisco García, who during the visit referred to the cities of Dakhla and Laayoune as "Moroccan." For AM-CC, this omission of the status of occupied territories is unacceptable and contributes to Morocco's strategy of assimilating Western Sahara as its own.
“The omission of the context of the occupied territory contributes to the Moroccan strategy of assimilating the territory of Western Sahara as its own, under a policy of fait accompli,” states the AM-CC statement.
The nationalist party has supported the criticisms from pro-Sahrawi organisations regarding this visit and has urged the two public universities in the Canary Islands – ULL and the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (ULPGC) – to uphold democratic values and justice in all their areas of action.
Support for the University of Tifariti and the right to self-determination
In contrast to the visit to Moroccan centres, AM-CC has defended strengthening collaboration with Sahrawi academic institutions, such as the University of Tifariti, located in liberated territory under the administration of the Polisario Front. This university is the first of the Sahrawi people and a symbol of their struggle for self-determination.
For the residents of the Canary Islands, the stance of the public universities has a direct impact: the geographical proximity to Western Sahara and the historical and cultural ties mean that any institutional positioning is closely monitored by Canary society. AM-CC reminds that international resolutions, such as those from the United Nations, recognise the Sahrawi people's right to decide their future.
“We must continue to stand by international resolutions, by democracy and justice. By the side of a people that continues to fight to fully exercise its right to self-determination, to end the occupation and aggression from the Moroccan regime, and to live in freedom,” concludes the statement.
The controversy arises in a context of increasing diplomatic tension between Spain and Morocco, while Western Sahara remains one of the longest-standing unresolved conflicts in the international community. The visit from UPCAN has been interpreted by Sahrawi groups as a gesture of normalisation of the occupation.
So far, neither ULL nor ULPGC have officially commented on AM-CC's criticisms. The Majorera party hopes that the rectors will rectify and align themselves with international legality. Meanwhile, the debate regarding the role of Canary Islands universities in the Sahrawi conflict remains open.
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