London, June 19, 2014 (SPS) - The British Parliament again drew Tuesday attention of the government to the state of human rights in the occupied territories of Western Sahara and humanitarian situation in the Saharawi refugee camps.
In a written question, the member of British Conservative Party, MP Stephen Mosley, drew the attention of Mr. Hugh Robertson, Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, to the recent reports he has received on human rights violations in the Saharawi territories, following Morocco’s crackdown on demonstrations that left several people injured.
Mr. Robertson stated, in his reply, that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs receives regularly reports on the situation of human rights in Western Sahara from UN rapporteurs, as well as from international rights and civil society organizations.
MP Stephen Mosley, on other hand, sent a written request to the UK Secretary of State for International Development, Mrs. Lynne Featherstone, on the situation of Sahrawi refugees, in which he asked her to assess the humanitarian situation in Western Sahara.
Responding to Mosley’s question, Minister Featherstone said that the humanitarian situation of the Saharawis is currently “stable,” adding that only the MINURSO (UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara) is responsible for monitoring human rights, in addition to its task to monitor the ceasefire.
She also pointed out that there are many Saharawi refugees living in camps in Algeria, adding that Britain provides protection and assistance to the Sahrawi refugees through funding programmess of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
Observers described the afro-mentioned reply by UK Minister Mrs. Featherstone as a new refutation to Morocco’s propaganda that the situation in the Saharawi refugee camps is disastrous.
Last week, the UK Minister of State at the Foreign Affairs Ministry described as “stable and quiet” the situation in the Saharawi refugee camps. (SPS)
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