New York, 24/06/2015 (SPS).- The frustration of the Saharawi people can no longer be contained with empty promises Ahmed Boukhari, representative of the Frente Polisario, told the Special Committee - known formally as the Special Committee on the Situation with regard to the Implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples.
In the face of the people's decades-long wait for the right to self-determination, the United Nations annual renewal of Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) was "financing the extension of a stalemate", he said, urging action to conduct the plebiscite, which had been on hold since 1992.
He implored the Committee to "awaken from its long sleep" remembering that “this is the last African colony to be decolonized" and Morocco, he added, in an "open defiance" of UN resolutions, "unilaterally proclaimed (...) that the Western Sahara is already part of Morocco, and is not ready to accept any referendum that includes independence as an option".
A prolongation of this situation "can lead to a highly dangerous and uncontrollable situation in a region already shaken by instability in its flank of the Sahel," said the representative of the Polisario Front.
Delegates from Nicaragua, Venezuela, Cuba, Bolivia and Ecuador pointed out, insisting that the question of Western Sahara must be resolved as quickly as possible in order to uphold the people's right to self-determination. Algeria's representative emphasized that "it is high time to give peace a chance" and invited the Committee to visit the region to hear directly from the people in Tindouf and Western Sahara. SPS
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