and companies. The government even delayed the opening of an IKEA store. But since the two

甚至將IKEA家具店的開幕延期

countries signed their first diplomatic “friendship” treaty more than 250 years ago, the few interactions

自從兩國在250年前簽署了第一份外交"友好"協議後

they’ve had, have been broadly positive. This aggression on Morocco’s part seems

雖然互動不多，不過大致上都還是正面的。這次摩洛哥單方面的侵犯行為

unprecedented. So, why is Morocco threatening to boycott Sweden?

似乎是史無前例的。所以，究竟為什麼摩洛哥威脅要杯葛瑞典呢?

Well, the planned boycott comes on the heels of Sweden announcing that it would consider

這次的杯葛計畫緊跟在瑞典宣布承認位於西撒哈拉的一個國家

recognizing the independence of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic in the Western Sahara.

-阿拉伯撒哈拉民主共和國的獨立之後

Why would Morrocco care? Well the Western Sahara was originally occupied by Spain, and

為何摩洛哥這麼在意? 西撒哈拉最初是被西班牙所占據

in 1975, the phosphate and potentially oil rich region was granted to Morocco and Mauritania

1975年時，這片富含磷酸鹽和潛藏石油的土地被轉讓給摩洛哥與毛利塔尼亞共同統治

to be jointly ruled. But war erupted between the two countries, as well as an Algerian-backed

但是兩國間爆發了戰爭，還有Polisario Front，一個由阿爾及利亞支持的反抗組織

rebel group called the Polisario Front. Mauritania dropped out of the conflict by 1979, but the

也涉入其中。1979年時，毛利塔尼亞退出了戰爭

independence seeking rebels kept fighting until 1991, when the UN intervened to establish

但是尋求獨立的反抗組織繼續抗爭直到1991年，聯合國介入調停後

peace.

才恢復和平

But tensions are still incredibly high, forcing the UN to remain in the country for peacekeeping

不過局勢緊繃的難以想像，迫使聯合國以維護和平留下來

purposes to this day. The rebels control a tiny portion of the region, although they

直到現在都還沒離開。儘管反抗組織宣稱擁有完整西撒哈拉地區的主權，

claim to be the rightful sovereigns of the entire area. Meanwhile, Morocco actually does

但是實際上它們只控制一小部分區域。在這同時，摩洛哥控制了其他大部分地區

control the rest of the area, as well as its resources, and they are very aggressive about

以及其蘊藏的資源，並且非常激進地要保存它們

keeping it. It is important to know that most Western countries have refused to acknowledge

很重要的一點是，大部分西方國家拒絕承認

either Morocco’s sovereignty over the region,

摩洛哥在西撒哈拉的主權

or the right of the Sahrawi people to self-determine their rule.

或者是反抗組織自稱的統治權

In 2012, Sweden’s ambassador actually said that they would NOT be recognizing the SADR,

2012年，瑞典的大使曾說過他們不會承認阿拉伯撒哈拉民主共和國

making this reason reversal, somewhat surprising.

和被杯葛的原因正好相反，讓人有點驚訝

As with many marginalized groups being ruled by foreign monarchies, the Sahrawis

如同大部分被外國殖民統治的少數族群，Sahrawis 人

regularly suffer violence and human rights abuses by Moroccan security forces. In fact,

經常遭受到摩洛哥警力的暴行、不人道的對待

despite the UN maintaining their peacekeeping presence, it is one of the only missions without

事實上，儘管聯合國為了維持和平而駐守， 但是他們的任務不包含監視人權

regular human rights monitoring. Morocco has been accused of stifling dissent, or speech

摩洛哥曾被指控鎮壓異議份子或是批判君主專制體制者，

critical of the monarchy, by imprisoning activists and police have reportedly attacked protesters

包含了囚禁活躍份子、以警力攻擊抗議人士

and tortured supposed terrorists.

還有折磨他們主觀認為的恐怖分子

The Moroccan controlled region also suffers from incredible gender inequality,

極度地性別不平等也發生在摩洛哥控制的區域

After repeatedly rejecting the UN’s recommendations to investigate human rights abuses, the United

在當局多次拒絕聯合國調查人權侵害的建議後，

States demanded that they allow third party monitoring of those potential violations.

美國要求摩洛哥同意讓公正第三方監測潛在的侵害事件

In response, Morocco called this an attack on their sovereignty, and cancelled joint

摩洛哥表示此舉將侵害到他們的主權，

military exercises with the US in the region.

並且取消和美國的共同軍事演習作為回應

Clearly, Morocco takes any threat to the status quo as a grave injustice, with Sweden only

很明顯地，摩洛哥視任何改變現狀的舉動為嚴重的不公義

being the most recent country to get caught in their crosshairs. The sudden, and somewhat

而瑞典只是最新一個被他們矛頭指向的國家。如此突如其來，

surprising announcement of a boycott resulted in Sweden promising to reexamine their position,

有點讓人吃驚的杯葛讓瑞典承諾重新檢視他們的立場

and return with a verdict by February 2016. But the chances of Morocco accepting any answer

並且在2016年2月會做出裁決後的決定。

besides outright support is slim.

不過摩洛哥接受其他答案的可能性微乎其微

Algeria is another country having less than friendly interactions with Morocco. Find

阿爾及利亞是另一個和摩洛哥互動不佳的國家

out the reason behind the two countries’ hostilities, watch our video at the top. And

觀看上方的影片，找出兩國互有敵意的原因

to learn more about Sweden, and the many misconceptions Americans have about the country, check out

想要多認識瑞典這個國家，以及看看美國人對他們有哪些誤解

the video from Seeker Daily below. Thanks for watching our channel! If you want to keep

請看下方的影片。感謝收看我們的頻道

up with more TestTube News, be sure to subscribe. And thanks for watching.

如果想要持續收看我們的影片，記得要點選訂閱，謝謝收看