Radio Nacional de la R.A.S.D.

In December of 2021 The US legally recognized Morocco’s annexation of Western Sahara. This was in exchange for Morocco's recognition of Israel. Two changes which only seems to have served to increase tensions in both regions. The problem with this maneuver for Western Sahara is that it's already governed by two countries: Moroccoa and the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR). The latter claims all of Western Sahara, but only controls approximately the easternmost one-fifth of that territory between Mauritania and a mined border fence called "the berm."  Nonetheless The SADR even operates an official state-owned, public radio station called Radio Nacional de la Republica Árabe Saharaui Democrática, aka National Radio of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic.

The National Radio of the SADR, broadcasts on Medium Wave at frequency of 1550 kHz and also in the Short Wave band at 41 meters, (7460 kHz). It broadcasts in both Arabic and Spanish. This radio station is not new. Most texts date it's first broadcast to December 28th, 1975. The radio station is over 45 years old this year. The timing is important because of the historical context. Like many territorial disputes it has a long history. I'll try to keep this short but the details are important to the timeline.

The history of the borders in Western Sahara is complex. In 1884, Spain claimed a protectorate over the coast or Northwestern Africa (The Maghreb) from Cape Bojador to Cape Blanc. In 1886, under the bogus Treaty of Idjil,  the Emirate of Adrar ceded the land to to Spain. The Spanish protectorate in Morocco was established on November 27th, 1912 by a treaty between France and Spain. In 1924 the Spanish colonies of Río de Oro and Saguia el-Hamra were combined to form Spanish Sahara. In 1958 Spain ceding the province of the Cape Juby Strip (the area of Tekna) to the newly independent Morocco, and created the Province of Spanish Sahara. In 1969 Spain carved off an area called Ifni and also gave that to Morocco as a further concession. More here.

European colonial powers drew arbitrary borders all over Africa in this era, most of them to the detriment of the African populace. But in Western Sahara, their continued indecision caused even more difficulty. You can read some really detailed history in the Congressional International Relations report The Question of Self-determination in Western Sahara from 1977. [LINK]

In 1971 student groups began organizing what would later become the Polisario Front, an armed rebellion of Sahrawi peoples who wanted independence, but backed by Algeria. Then in 1975 it got even more complicated. On October 16th, 1975 the International Court of Justice ruled that while the region's tribes had historical ties to Morocco, they were insufficient to establish  territorial sovereignty. Only weeks later, under pressure from France, the US, and the UK Spain withdrew from the area on November 14th. Nonetheless under the Madrid accords the territory was divided between Morocco and Mauritania. So Morocco controlled most of Western Sahara but didnt' "own" it. In 1976, the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), was created in exile. In 1979 Mauritania withdrew. Leaving only Morocco and the Polisario Front. In the mid-1980s Morocco built "The Berm" which both contained the Polisario Front, and preserved the stalemate. Since 1991, a UN-monitored cease-fire has prevailed  with no clear path to decolonization; either the independence of the Saharawi people or integration in Morocco.  More here.

Most historical sources put the start of the radio station in 1975. This timing is odd since it predates the founding of the SADR but it's years after the students groups became politically active. The answer is  "La Voz del Sáhara Libre" (The Voice of Free Sahara).  Before the war, those student groups made pro-independence broadcasts from supportive radio stations in Algiers and Tripoli, as The Voice of Free Sahara. It has been written on some websites that in it's first months due to the war situation, the first transmissions were made from moving trucks. But the source for this is the website lefrig.org which has been down for years and is poorly archived. 

The Sydney W. Head book book Broadcasting in Africa is unhelpful here. There is a section on Egypt which is mostly focused on Egypt. The subsection on The Maghreb includes Algeria, and Lybia, Tunisia, and a tiny bit on Morocco. There we learn that Morcco "has the most elaborate radio and television systems" of the Mahgreb nations and 5 radio stations as of 1971. Mauritania (in the Equatorial section) describes that nation having only one station, broadcasting in 4 languages, but only for a total of 8 hours a day. But on page 170 there is a sub section on Spanish Dependencies. It describes the area "it consists entirely of desert — 'a destitute and entirely artificial political unit.'  But then it gets interesting:

"Spain apparently uses the area as a pase for propaganda broadcasts, since there is a 50-kw. medium-wave transmitter at El Aioun, one of the two coastal towns. The other town, Villa Cisneros, serves as a military penal stockade, where Spain operates a 10-kw medium-wave station... Spain also has a small medium-wave radio station and a television station in each of two enclaves, Ceuta and Melilla, on the Mediterranean coast of Morocco, as well as a television station in a third enclave, Sidi Ifni, on the Atlantic coast."

This scrap of information tells us that At least in 1971that early broadcasts by The Voice of Free Sahara may have been in some degree a response to Spanish propaganda stations in the region. In an interview with Atalayar the first radio station director, Mrabbih Rabbou Maoulainine, spoke a little about the early days of the station

The Polisario had created a "radio" in Tindouf. That was not a radio ... The fact is that they put me to work there in that radio for about nine months, then they appointed me director of the radio. Then they sent me to Algiers.... When I was director of the radio in Tindouf I found lots of letters addressed to the secretary of the Polisario, Mohamed Abdelaziz and to El Ayoun. African heads of state and ministers who sent correspondence to the president of SADR and sent it to the city of El Ayoun. They did not know that the Polisario was not in Laayoune, but in Tindouf, Algerian territory, people did not understand that."

His statement is accurate, though he does not mention that the settlements in Tindouf are refugee camps operated by the SADR. [LINK] The 1980s shortwave directories that include the station give the address as B.P. 10, El Mouradia, 16000 Algiers, Algeria; 1,800 miles away from Tinfouf. In 1977 the first real studios and archive were inaugurated in the Sahrawi refugee camps. In 1978 the power was increased to 20 kW and now covered all of Western Sahara, Morocco, Algeria and even part of Mauritania. In 1991 the station further upgraded to 100 kW. More here.

Menas Associates reported last year that the Tindouf camps have been on radio silence since March 20th 2020. The Polisario government declared a State of Emergency and the ‘National Committee for Monitoring and Prevention of Coronavirus’ announced a total land border closure.