Shaheed El-Hafed (refugee camps), 27 Feb 2017 (SPS) The President of the Republic and Secretary General of the Polisario Front, Brahim Ghali, received on Sunday a delegation from the US Congress led by Senator Jim Inhofe on inspection visit to the Sahrawi refugee camps.
At the end of this audience, which is part of the celebration of the 41st anniversary of the proclamation of the SADR, Senator Jim Inhofe indicated that "his visit with his fellow Senators to the Saharawi refugee camps aims to support the right of the Sahrawi Saharawi people to self-determination ".
He specified in this context that his team "wishes to work with the US Administration to end the conflict in Western Sahara through the acceleration of the negotiation process, so as to guarantee the Sahrawis the right to decide their future through a democratic referendum ".
The US official added that the Congress had heard deliberations on the Saharawi issue and that it was willing to make further efforts to put an end to the suffering of this people.
During an inspection visit to the Saharawi refugee camps, the delegation of the US Congress was welcomed on Sunday in Smara by the population and the local authorities.
This visit in support of the Saharawi people, planned as part of an African tour after the new US administration came to power, testifies the interest and solidarity shown by the representatives of the American people to the Saharawi cause.
The US delegation includes influential members of Congress such as Republican Randy Hultgren, co-chairman of the Tom Lantos Commission on Human Rights and several advisers on African, foreign and human rights issues.
The US Congress, which was particularly sensitive to the Saharawi cause and to the human rights situation in the occupied territories, held last year a hearing on Western Sahara, devoted to the review of the mandate of the United Nations Mission For the organization of a referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) and human rights violations in the occupied Saharawi territories.
It should be noted that representatives of the Congress had made two visits to the Saharawi refugee camps in 2016 in support of the right of the Saharawi people to self-determination. (SPS)
062/090/TRA