The Indian Government did not succumb to Moroccan blandishments and reiterated its principled support for the SADR and the UN sponsored referendum process. The United States has apparently allowed France and Spain to play a more activist role in the politics of Maghreb. Washington did not support the Moroccan position in the recent Security Council deliberations but it has given the impression that on North African issues it would prefer to guided by France at this juncture. The political leadership in European countries such as France and Spain apparently think that if a referendum as promised by the international community is allowed to be held, it will lead to political chaos in Morocco. Recent statistics show that four million Moroccans live on less than a dollar a day and that half the population has no access to natal care.
More women die at childbirth in Morocco than anywhere else in the Arab world.
The literacy rate is lower than that of India. Many European government think that Morocco is already sitting on a powderkeg, and that if Western Sahara becomes free, the Moroccan King would lose his legitimacy. The turmoil that could follow, they feel, has the potential to trigger a refugee exodus to Europe. But the West seems to be underestimating the Sahrawis and their will to survive and fight. Though considerably fewer in numbers, the Saharawi guerilla army had held the Moroccan Army in a military stalemate in the 1970s and the 1980s.