(Photo by Joadl via Wikimedia Commons/CC BY-SA 3.0 AT)
In September of 2024, Algeria reimposed visas on Moroccan citizens and accused their government of trafficking and spying. The two countries have been involved in tit-for-tat escalations over the Western Sahara territory for decades. Morocco claims the land while Algeria backs the Polisario movement, which claims to represent the Sahrawi people.
Relations between these two North African states were not always as dire as today, but colonial legacies and diverging interests have pushed these nations closer to conflict. Yet, the people’s hopes for unity and reconciliation remain.
How Early Dreams of Brotherhood Were Dashed Time and Again
After Morocco’s independence from France in 1956, it was highly supportive of the Algerian independence movement. It allowed the Algerian Liberation Movement (FLN) leaders to organize on Moroccan soil and even provided them with medical attention and equipment. Morocco rejected France’s offer to draw favourable borders in exchange for ceasing support for the FLN because of their solidarity with the Algerians.
However, when France drew the borders between Morocco and Algeria with no regard for the native populations, border disputes began. These French-caused border disputes eventually grew into the 1963 Sand War. Even though the war was over relatively quickly and the physical impacts were minimal, the emotional and mental wounds still run deep. This conflict from over 60 years ago still impacts relations between the two nations, as well as the Algerian-backed Polisario movement that claims to support the Sahrawi people.
The decade immediately after the Sand War was one of relative calm. Morocco dropped its claims to the territory it lost during French colonization and committed to “good-neighbourliness.” However, this period of calm ended abruptly in 1976, when the Western Sahara War led to battles between their respective armies, but not all-out wars. Morocco severed ties after the battles when Algeria recognized the Polisario claim to sovereignty over the Sahara.
Tensions Ebb and Flow as the Millennium Arrives
Relations remained frozen for nearly the duration of the Western Sahara War (1975-1991) until Morocco and Algeria agreed to a Saudi-mediated normalization deal in 1988. A year later, the two countries—alongside Mauritania, Tunisia and Libya—signed a treaty creating the Arab Maghreb Union (AMU). The AMU had initial success in mending relations by creating an important border economy that benefitted citizens on both sides, similar to that of the European Union.
With the start of the Algerian Civil War in 1992, tensions rose again. After a devastating 1994 terrorist attack in Marrakesh, which Morocco blamed on Algeria, Morocco closed the border and imposed visa requirements on Algerian citizens, which destroyed the economy put in place by the AMU. Despite this, the people still hold out hope that it will someday reopen. In 2018, a social media campaign was demanding an open border and ease of travel between the two countries, with 89% of Moroccans in favour.
Relations remained cold throughout the Algerian Civil War, but as it came to a close in 2002, they started normalization. They agreed to visits and lifting visa restrictions. In reality, King Mohamed VI and the late President of Algeria Abdelaziz Bouteflika only met once, at the 2005 Arab League Summit in Algiers. A series of small spats followed, such as Morocco cancelling the Algerian Prime Minister’s visit in 2005 and Algeria’s growing frustrations with Morocco’s increased role in the African Union. These were nothing compared to what comes next.
How Morocco and Algeria’s Fluctuating Friendship Has Raised Tensions Abroad
On December 10, 2020, Morocco officially recognized Israel’s occupation of Palestine. In exchange, Israel’s close ally, the United States, recognized Moroccan sovereignty over the Western Sahara. This recognition infuriated Algeria in part because it had been a vocal supporter of Palestine on the international stage for decades, in line with its stated belief in a right to independence. However, even though these governments have divergent opinions about Israel’s colonization of Palestine, the Moroccan and Algerian people stand firmly united behind Palestinian liberation.
After the US and Israel recognized Morocco’s claim to the Western Sahara, several other states followed suit. Spain recognized the Western Sahara as part of Morocco in 2022 and, controversially for Algeria, France in 2024. After these recognitions, Algeria threatened to halt energy exports and recalled its ambassadors. It has refused to accept deported citizens, sending them back to France. Algeria has exported its diplomatic feud with Morocco to France.
Alongside these rising tensions on the international stage, Morocco and Algeria continue to bolster their militaries. Algeria has spent nearly $9 billion on its military annually for the past two decades, while Morocco spent just over $5 billion in 2022. Algeria is also the first foreign buyer of the Russian Su-57 fifth-generation fighter jet.
Morocco, taking notice of Algeria’s increased military budget, has been involved with the United States Pentagon to purchase 32 F-35 fifth-generation fighter jets. The increased military purchases from both nations are rapidly becoming an out-of-control arms race. These neighbours that once dreamed of brotherhood may be on a collision course.
Hints of The Point of No Return
Relations since Morocco’s alliance with Israel have taken another negative turn. Only this time, it appears to be all downhill. Algeria has repeatedly accused Morocco of being the cause of several of its domestic issues, blaming Morocco for starting its devastating 2021 wildfires. These accusations were despite the fact that Morocco helped Algeria fight those fires. Days after Algeria made this accusation, they cut ties with Morocco, claiming that it had engaged in “hostile acts.”
On Morocco’s part, it has used the Israeli Pegasus spyware against Algeria and Algerian officials. Morocco has also voiced support for the separatist movement in Algeria’s northern Kabylie region. In retaliation for that move, Algeria has recognized the Rif separatist movement in Morocco’s north.
Merely a month after cutting ties with Morocco, Algeria closed all airspace to Moroccan planes, effectively ending direct flights between the two countries. Algeria has also stopped supplying gas to Morocco since October of 2021, which previously produced around 10% of Morocco’s electricity.
Violent Words and Actions Burn Bridges
To make matters worse, there have been human rights violations between the governments and opposing citizens. In August of 2023, a group of 4 Moroccans were jet-skiing off the coast of the Moroccan and Algerian maritime border. As the day dragged on, the current pulled them into Algerian waters. The Moroccans were accosted and eventually shot by Algerian maritime border police, killing two and injuring one.
The two surviving friends were separated, with one swimming back to Morocco and the other ending up in Algerian prison. Ismail Snabi spent 1 year in Algerian jail. After being freed last November, he recounted torture in the Algerian prison. The killing of two Moroccans and the imprisonment and torture of another managed to somehow wreck tensions even further.
Late 2024 saw Algeria make several moves that Morocco perceived as antagonistic. It reimposed visas on Moroccan citizens and accused Morocco of drug and human trafficking. Algeria also claimed that Morocco was involved in “zionist espionage,” likely in line with Algeria’s perception of Morocco’s alliance with Israel. Critically, Morocco still refuses to open the border. The Moroccan King — known for repeatedly extending olive branches to Algeria in his annual “Throne Day” speech — made no such mention in 2024.
The People are Determined to Hope for a Better Future
What once seemed like a relationship forged on mutual struggle has now become an ugly family feud. Both governments have soured on the relationship, increasing the likelihood that the two neighbours could engage in direct armed conflict. International organizations and politicians perceive this as a clear descent toward active conflict.
However, not at all is lost. The Moroccan and Algerian people still have strong bonds, with many having friends and family on both sides of the border. This is also the case for my family, as my grandmother’s sister has lived in Algeria for several decades now and has no option for a direct flight to see her sister in Morocco. She must first fly to Paris before going to Morocco. This detour makes it much more expensive and time-consuming for families divided by the border to visit one another.
She is also old and in poor health, making the journey difficult and painful. Reopening the border and airspace would allow her to see her sister more easily and frequently. There are still campaigns on both sides of the border demanding its reopening so relations can finally get a good faith reset. The people have not yet fully given up.
The Governments Still Quietly Cooperate
Merely a month after the Algerian government killed a pair of Moroccans who strayed into Algerian waters, the Algerian people expressed tremendous solidarity with the Moroccan people who were recovering from the “Al Haouz” earthquake. The Algerian people supported Morocco during the 2022 World Cup, just as the Moroccans did in 2014 when Algeria made it to the round of 16. Moroccans also celebrated Algeria’s 2019 African Cup of Nations victory, especially along the border, despite its closure.
There is still hope for the governments as well. Just this month, the governments reopened the border to repatriate 74 Moroccan Migrants who Algeria detained for attempting to cross into Europe. Currently, Morocco and Algeria have several security and counter-insurgency agreements between them to limit Al Qaeda and ISIS activity in the region. Despite the AMU’s earlier failures, there is an appetite for collaboration and economic integration.
Morocco and Algeria should aim to follow the people’s voice and reignite the AMU to increase cooperation rather than continue on this path of distrust and mutual isolation. There is still a large volume of trade between the two, valued at hundreds of millions of dollars. Normalizing relations, opening the border, and integrating the economies further would not only be enormously beneficial. It would finally give their respective citizens what they have desired since the start. Reconciliation is the path forward for these countries and their people, not further confrontation.
Edited by Melanie Miles
