Brussels, , April 23, 2016 (SPS) -The European Parliament intergroup "Peace for the Saharawi People" has reiterated Thursday in Brussels its "unflinching" support to the Sahrawi cause, calling on the UN Security Council to renew its Mission for the referendum in Western Sahara (Minurso) enabling the Sahrawi people implement its right for self-determination.
In a meeting with the Sahrawi Foreign Affairs Minister Mohamed Salem Ould Salek, members of the European Parliament intergroup "Peace for the Saharawi People" stressed the need to endow the new Minurso mandate with a human rights monitoring tool like other UN peacekeeping mission worldwide.
"Last week, we sent a letter to the UN Security Council members explaining the delicate situation in Western Sahara after Morocco's decision to expel the civilian component of the Minurso. In this letter, we highlighted the importance of broadening prerogatives of this mission to human rights monitoring to enable the Sahrawi people, which have been waiting for 25 years, exert the right to self-determination," Spanish EU MP Paloma Lopez Bermejo said.
For his part, the Sahrawi FM reaffirmed during this meeting that "Morocco is an occupying force" and therefore "has no sovereignty over Western Sahara."
Ould Salek called the EU to "exert pressure on Morocco to end systematic violations of human rights in occupied territories."
"We regret the fact the EU, which can play a very positive role in the Western Sahara conflict, does not make pressure through trade agreements with Morocco," he added.
Ould Salek warned against "an escalade of violence" if case the Un Security Council fails to fully restore the Minurso activities.SPS
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