Algeria and Colombia trigger regional tensions over migration and Western Sahara

Tensions in the Maghreb region have escalated as Algeria reportedly conducts the controlled movement of Sub-Saharan migrants toward the Moroccan border. Reports and social media footage indicate that large groups of migrants are being escorted by Algerian military vehicles toward the frontier, an action interpreted as a strategic use of irregular migration to exert political pressure on Morocco amidst their long-standing diplomatic rivalry over the Western Sahara.

Simultaneously, the Polisario Front has criticized the Colombian administration's recent decision to recognize Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara. The liberation movement characterized the move as having a "deep ideological bias," arguing that the territory remains a non-self-governing territory pending decolonization. The Polisario Front emphasized that the definitive status of Western Sahara should be determined by the Sahrawi people's right to self-determination, citing the 1975 International Court of Justice ruling.