London, Feb 3, 2015 (SPS) - Western Sahara Campaign UK indicated, in a letter to the UN Security Council, that the ongoing exploration operations carried out by Morocco in compliance with foreign companies off Western Sahara shores “threaten security and stability in the region and constitutes stumbling block to self-determination referendum in Western Sahara.”
Underlying that such operations constitute “serious provocation” and “real threat” to security and stability in the entire Maghreb region, the association asked the Security Council of the UN to protect the economic rights of the Saharawi people by blocking any exploitation of their natural resources.
“The Polisario Front, recognized by the UN as representative of the Saharawi people, has not been consulted. Instead, it opposed exploration operations and considered it as illegal and an obstacle to self-determination referendum of the Saharawi people, promised by the UN after the signing of a cease-fire agreement between the parties in 1991,” stated the letter.
The association, therefore, recalled to the legal opinion by UN Legal Counsel Hans Corell, which states that the exploration and exploitation of natural resources proceed without respect to the interests and wishes of the Saharawi people “would be in violation of the international law.”
To be noted, Western Sahara Action Forum, of which the aforementioned association is a part, intends to initiate a campaign to pressurize the Security Council to conduct the referendum in Western Sahara and expand the mandate of MINURSO to include human rights monitoring. (SPS)
090/089/TRA