The UN Security Council is reviewing MINURSO, its mission to Western Sahara.
It must do better.
The abject failure of the Security Council to apply the terms of the 1991 Peace Agreement or even to appoint a new and credible special envoy has led to a resumption of war in the Western Sahara. MINURSO has no referendum to organise, no ceasefire to monitor, and its current mandate lacks a human rights function. In the absence of rapid and substantive actions by the Council, MINURSO will be irrelevant to the Saharawi people at a time when repression in the occupied territory is increasing, economic exploitation deepening, and the refugee camps are on a war footing. All this comes amid the Covid crisis.
You Can Take Action!
Please write or e-mail your MP - Find your MP - MPs and Lords - UK Parliament – and ask them to raise your concerns with James Cleverly, Minister for Middle East and North Africa at the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO).
Use your own words in these communications if you can, it will have a greater impact. There is no need to cover every point listed below; between us we will cover them all. More information is available in the following briefing:
The key points are that the Security Council should:
Get the political process moving again, by:
* Providing an alternative to war by focussing on achieving self-determination for the Saharawi people, setting a date for a free and fair referendum to be carried out in Western Sahara with an option for independence on the ballot paper Appointing a new and credible Personal Envoy of the Secretary General to Western Sahara. * Sending a fact-finding mission to Western Sahara to investigate human rights abuses, including those of Saharawi prisoners in prisons in Morocco. * Granting MINURSO the legal mandate to monitor and report on human rights in the territories controlled by both the Kingdom of Morocco and the Frente POLISARIO. * Demanding an end to the illegal extraction of natural resources from Western Sahara, which disregards the interests and wishes of the indigenous Saharawi. * Insisting on the withdrawal of Moroccan forces and infrastructure from the buffer zone at Guerguerat, and the demolition of all and any new sections of wall. * Advocating for the release of Saharawi civilian prisoners in Moroccan prisons, which are notorious for overcrowding and unhygienic conditions. Insisting on unfettered access to Western Sahara by the international media and humanitarian NGOs.
WESTERN SAHARA CAMPAIGN UK
The Western Sahara Campaign works in solidarity with the Saharawi people to generate political support in order to advance their right to self-determination and to promote their human rights.
Our role is to lobby the UK Government and the EU. You can help us to ensure the UK does not ignore the voice of the Saharawi people.
Follow the news about EU's illegal fisheries in Western Sahara
