2011 Western Saharan protests

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2011 Western Saharan protests
Part of the Arab Spring and Western Sahara conflict
Locator map of the Western Sahara with zones of de facto control
Date	25 February 2011[citation needed] – May 2011[citation needed]
Location	Western Sahara, with some incidents in southern Morocco
Caused by	Discrimination, lack of self-determination, police brutality
Methods	Civil disobedience, civil resistance, demonstrations, hunger strikes, protest camps, sit-ins, rioting
Resulted in	No visible changes
Parties
Sahrawi activists  Morocco (Moroccan police)
Casualties and losses
1 killed, hundreds injured

The 2011 Western Saharan protests began on 25 February 2011 as a reaction to the failure of police to prevent anti-Sahrawi looting in the city of Dakhla, Western Sahara, and blossomed into protests across the territory. They were related to the Gdeim Izik protest camp in Western Sahara established the previous fall, which had resulted in violence between Sahrawi activists and Moroccan security forces and supporters. The protests also purportedly drew inspiration from the Arab Spring and successful revolts in Tunisia and Egypt,^[1] although the Arab Spring proper did not reach Western Sahara.^[2]

No significant protests were reported beyond May 2011, though international media coverage of Western Sahara is incomplete at best. There is renewed calls for peaceful protests from the Polisario Front.^[3]