The Human Face of Sovereignty – A Study on Moroccan Sovereignty over Western Sahara

Abstract: The purpose of this thesis is to investigate Morocco’s sovereignty over Western Sahara from a Human Security perspective based on the concept that the state’s primary responsibility is the protection of its people and that this obligation is inherent in the states claim to sovereignty, as presented by the R2P theory. The study also explores how far the analysis should stretch when applying Owen’s definition of Human Security as a basis for sovereignty. This is done by performing two different analyses, one where only the Western Saharan territory is regarded and one where the so called Tindouf refugee camps are included. The study finally concludes that the analytical range of Human Security could stretch as far as the effects of sovereignty when sovereignty is the concept being measured. This means that the analysis where the Tindouf refugee camps are included ought to be the correct analysis and when the camps are included one could argue against Morocco’s sovereignty over Western Sahara according to the R2P theory based on Owen’s definition of Human Security.