Australia, 17 November 2020 (SPS) - The Australia Western Sahara Association has strongly condemned Morocco’s “flagrant” violation of the terms of the ceasefire in Western Sahara, expressing solidarity with the Saharawi People.
“AWSA condemns the use of the Morocco military to clear unarmed Saharawi civilians who had been demonstrating peacefully in Guerguerat in south-western Western Sahara since late October” said AWSA Secretary, Lesley Osborne.
The Association highlighted that the protest had been blocking an illegal crossing, a road unilaterally built by Morocco through the Buffer Zone, an area under the control of MINURSO, the UN mission tasked with organising the referendum.
Ms. Osborne went on saying that Guergerat illegal breach symbolises “the impunity with which Morocco continues violating Saharawi rights, and illegally plunders their resources”
She regretted for the UN failure to to organize a referendum for the Saharawi people, noting that the outbreak of military hostilities “is the culmination of years of neglect of Western Sahara by the
AWSA urges the UN to set a date for “the long overdue” referendum of self-determination, and pressurizing Morocco to withdraw its army from the Buffer Strip and respect the terms of the ceasefire.
She, in same regard, stressed the need to give MINURSO the mandate to monitor and report on human rights and natural resources plunder in Western Sahara.
Finally, the Association called on the United Nations Secretary-General to urgently appoint a Special Envoy to Western Sahara to progress negotiations and assist with the decolonisation process of Africa’s last colony. (SPS)