Seville (Spain), Feb 4, 2012 (SPS) - “The 37th European Coordination Conference of Support to the Sahrawi Saharawi People (EUCOCO), which is taking place in a context of economic crisis in Europe, has special importance in the direction of reaffirming the international solidarity with the struggle of the Saharawi people,” said Friday in Seville the Saharawi Minister responsible for relations with the European Union (EU), Mr. Mohamed Sidati.
“This edition of EUCOCO is of particular importance for the Saharawis, as it being held in an economic crisis in Europe and in a context marked by what is called the Arab revolutions,” said Mr. Sidati to the press on the sidelines The 37th European Coordination Conference of Support to the Sahrawi Saharawi People (EUCOCO) Feb 3-5 in Seville, Spain.
The Saharawi Official considered that this gathering “is important to reaffirm again the solidarity of European nations with the Saharawi struggle for independence,” underlying on the other hand that the Saharawis were the first in the Arab world, through the Intifada of Gdeim Izik, to organize demonstrations demanding the right to freedom.
“This is an opportunity also to emphasize the concerns of EUCOCO, namely humanitarian solidarity with the Saharawi people and cooperation with the refugees on the part of development, examining ways to initiate projects in refugee camps,” he said.
In the same context, he indicated that this conference “will also address issues related to human rights in the occupied Sahrawi territories, including opening the occupied territories for journalists, activists, human rights and independent observers.”
Mr. Sidati said in this regard that this conference is attended by many representatives of NGOs and the European association movement, and more than twenty Sahrawi human rights activists from the occupied territories, in addition to representatives of political parties in Spain and EU MEPs and officials.
The 37th edition of the EUCOCO, which is organized by the Association of friends of the Saharawi people in Seville, will, moreover, according to the Saharawi official, another opportunity to address policy issues related to the Western Sahara conflict, in the direction of reaffirming the Sahrawis’ right to self-determination.
The province of Seville (Andalusia) has twinned with the Saharawi Wilaya of Dakhla since 2001. And since 2010, the City Council of Seville has twinned with the the Saharawi liberated town of Tifariti. (SPS)
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