The Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic has issued a warning to the Africa Eco Race, urging organizers to reconsider taking the upcoming 2025 edition through disputed Western Sahara. While the SADR is not threatening action should the race proceed as usual, it stresses it will not be held responsible if an incident occurs in the region.

Control of Western Sahara is divided between Morocco and the SADR, with the former holding roughly 70 percent of it. 44 UN member states recognize the SADR while others like the United States and Israel see the region as being the Moroccan Southern Provinces. Morocco views the SADR as separatist forces backed by Algeria, who severed ties with its neighbor in 2021.

The SADR, through the ruling Polisario Front, and Morocco maintained a ceasefire from 1991 until 2020. Consequently, the SADR described Western Sahara as an “open war zone” and that anyone in there would be held “accountable for any consequences that may arise from their entry and crossing of Sahrawi national territory.”

“The Sahrawi Republic reserves the legitimate right to respond firmly to any action that threatens its sovereignty and territorial integrity, and holds the occupying Moroccan state fully responsible for its destabilizing actions, which pose serious dangers to the already stalled United Nations peace process and threaten peace, security, and stability throughout the region,” the release concluded.

The 2025 AER will enter Western Sahara on Stage #4, which begins in Touizgui (which is part of Morocco) before finishing in Laayoune. The fifth leg takes place solely in this territory with a run from Laayoune to Dakhla, where a rest day is scheduled for January 5 before heading for Mauritania in Stage #6.

These statements have been issued on an annual basis, though encounters between the AER and Polisario Front are rare and have not resulted in harm to competitors. In 2018, the SADR deployed two military vehicles to stop the race before being ordered to leave by the UN.

Two years later, the SADR wrote a letter to UN Secretary-General António Guterres to “express our strong condemnation” of the race and criticizing the UN for not taking “robust actions” to intervene. Stage #6 was disrupted by protesters, who blocked racers in Guerguerat on their way to the Mauritanian border. Race officials said the protesters handed them flyers before letting them pass.

In October 2022, the Association of the Friends of the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic (AARASD) filed a complaint to the Public Prosecutor of Paris regarding that year’s race map, which depicted Western Sahara as Moroccan territory. AARASD accused organizers of “presenting a war crime in a favourable light” and “follow(ing) in the footsteps of Morocco’s colonialist propaganda”, while submitting a notice to the race that “only the Polisario Front can give access to the territory” whereas one from Morocco was “null and void”. Thus, the association urged, the race should be stopped at the Moroccan border. Ultimately, the 2022 AER proceeded without interference.

The AER is not the only cross-country rally that runs through Western Sahara/Southern Provinces. Much of the 2025 Morocco Desert Challenge in April will also be held there, particularly the middle stages between Laayoune and Smara.

The 2025 Africa Eco Race began Saturday with technical inspection and a ceremonial start in Morocco. Stage #4 will take place on January 3.