Demographic Engineering and Apartheid in Western Sahara
- British Academy/Leverhulme Small Research Grant (2024 to 2026)
Lead academics
University of Southampton
Research Assistants
Beya Mousli
Beya Mousli is a trilingual PhD candidate in international law at the University Paris Nanterre.
Dr Meriem Naili
Dr Meriem Naïli is a trilingual international law scholar and human rights practitioner specialising in self-determination, discrimination, and social inclusion.
Project overview
This project explores the linkages between policies and practices of demographic engineering and apartheid systems in the situation in Western Sahara through a study of the archives in the UK and Spain. The aim is to explore how demographic engineering policies and practices have contributed to maintaining a system of apartheid in the territories occupied by Morocco and the national liberation movement Front Polisario as a contribution to the scholarship of better-known case studies (South Africa/Namibia, Israel/Palestine, Myanmar etc).
The focus on Western Sahara is important to better understand the root causes and legal implications of the conflict, which has re-emerged in recent years after nearly 30-years of ceasefire. The timeliness of this research is further supported by recent developments in the field, such as the proceedings before the International Court of Justice regarding the policies and practices of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including demographic engineering and apartheid.
The project includes a study trip to the Sahrawi refugee camps in Tindouf, Algeria, and visits to archives in the UK, France, and Spain. Two research assistants fluent in Maghrebi Arabic and French are involved with the project. There will be a workshop hosted by NILSC in the summer of 2026 to present the principal findings of the research project.
Project activities
Visit to UK National Archives
Dr Victor Kattan and Dr Andrea Maria Pelliconi visited the National Archives UK from 1 to 11 April 2025 and met with Parliamentarians in Westminster on 31 March and 9 April including with Jeremy Corbyn MP and Ben Lake MP, former members of the Western Sahara All-Party Parliamentary Group.
Visit to Western Sahara
Dr Andrea Maria Pelliconi undertook a week-long visit to the Sahrawi refugee camps in Tindouf, Algeria from 1 to 8 December 2024, culminating in her participation in the International Congress on Western Sahara on 5 to 6 December.
Publications
Dr Andrea Maria Pelliconi - book chapter on Western Sahara in an edited collection on the occasion of the 50 years of the ICJ advisory opinion: Chapter 12 Spatial and Demographic Dimensions of Sovereignty in Western Sahara in: Western Sahara in the International Legal Order https://share.google/lK92UgV2J48bJzL2X (December 2025).
Dr Victor Kattan and Dr Andrea Maria Pelliconi 'The Security Council Resolutions on Western Sahara and Gaza: Is Decolonisation in Danger?' E-International Relations (16 December 2025).
Dr Victor Kattan and Dr Andrea Maria Pelliconi - Morocco using economic clout to strengthen grip on disputed Western Sahara territory, The Conversation (12 August 2025).
Dr Andrea Maria Pelliconi - Development as Domination: Settler Tourism in Western Sahara and the Commodification of Occupied Territories in Trumpist International Law, Opinio Juris (23 May 2025).