Algiers, 7 March 2016 (SPS) - United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Sunday, in Algiers, issued a plea to give "more attention and action" to the question of Western Sahara, a territory occupied by Morocco since 1975, insisting on Saharawi people's inalienable right to self-determination.
Speaking at the Diplomatic and International Relations Institute, Ban Ki-moon said the Saharawis people have the right to dignity and self-determination.
The UN chief stressed that the main objective for his visit to the region is to assess the search for a settlement to Western Sahara issue, within the framework of a mutually acceptable political solution.
Ban underlined that the international commune has neglected the Western Sahara conflict, before he appointed people with the appropriate experience as his representatives to address the issue.
The UN secretary general said he just came from the refugee camps and he saw with his own eyes the hard conditions in which Saharawi refugees are living.
He noted that children born 40 years ago in the camps and are still living there.
The UN chief regretted that the international community focuses only on issues and conflicts that make the headlines in the media while millions of people are suffering in silence, citing Western Sahara people. (SPS)
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