ADDIS ABABA- The African Union (AU) welcomed the visit of the United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to Western Sahara and the region, hoping that this visit will promote the peace process and allow the Sahrawi people to exercise their inalienable right to self-determination.
“We welcome Ban’s visit to Western Sahara and the region paid from 3 to 7 March 2016. He showed the United Nations’ serious intention to assume their responsibilities and give the long-awaited necessary momentum, to embody the solution to the conflict in the territory, in accordance with the international law,” said the President of African Union Commission Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma in a communiqué.
The President said that the visit allowed emphasizing the suffering of the Sahrawi people, calling the international community to implement the international law and the United Nations resolutions and enable the Sahrawi people to exercise their right to self-determination.
Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma expressed the Pan African organization’s deep concern about the humanitarian situation of the Sahrawi people, the violation of human rights and continuation of illegal exploitation of the territory’s natural resources despite the multiple relevant opinions and decisions of international and regional organization.
She also reiterated AU’s commitment to stepping up its efforts to promote peace process and enable the Sahrawi people to exercise their inalienable right to self-determination.