UN General Assembly
1977

86. The thousands of original inhabitants of the Moroccan and Mauritanian provinces of the Sahara who have returned, having been dispossessed of their homes because of the vicissitudes of decolonization, are innocent hostages of an ill-judged policy that is doomed, through its successive twists and turns, to reach an impasse. 87. The ranks of these displaced persons have been greatly swollen, either by the Touraregs of the central Sahara or by genuine refugees who have fled from the Sahel because of the exceptional drought of the last three years. They have also been led by mercenaries, most of whom had belonged to the Spanish colonial forces and who did not hesitate to offer their services to the highest bidder in the confused situation resulting from decolonization.