On 12th June a high level delegation of MP’s, MEP's, High Commissioners and representatives of the exiled Western Saharan government went to 10 Downing Street to call on the British government to take action to resolve the 33 year conflict in Western Sahara. The delegation delivered a letter to Gordon Brown from the President-in-exile, Mohamed Abdelaziz, asking that Britain act immediately to ensure that the Moroccan government adheres to the International Court of Justice ruling and subsequent UN Security Council resolutions in recognising the right of the indigenous Saharawi people to self-determination. The delegation was followed by a meeting in the House of Commons to launch a major new awareness-raising campaign.

The aim of the delegation was to remind the world of the Saharawi people's forgotten struggle. It argued that the collective failure to address Morocco's violation of countless UN resolutions, to stop the illegal plundering of Western Sahara's natural resources and to allow human rights abuses to be committed with impunity diminishes Britain and the UN, and it is an affront to all those with a belief in justice.

Y.Lamine Baali, chief representative of the Polisario Front in the UK, handed in the letter to Gordon Brown. "In 1975 Moroccan forces occupied my country forcing tens of thousands of my people to leave their homes and walk hundreds of miles to refuge in camps in the Algerian desert” he told assembled journalists. “Even as they fled Moroccan planes rained napalm bombs down on them. 165,000 of us have been living in the camps ever since inspite of the ruling by the International Court of Justice and over 100 UN Resolutions. As leader of this democratically run nation-in-exile, I appeal to the people and government of Britain to actively support the legitimate right of my people for self-determination.”

Jeremy Corbyn MP who chairs the All Party Parliamentary Group on Western Sahara, said; “The plight of Saharawi people is a forgotten struggle. Our collective failure to address Morocco’s ongoing violation of countless UN Resolutions, to stop the illegal plundering of Western Sahara’s natural resources and to allow human rights abuses to be committed with impunity diminishes Britain, it diminishes the United Nations and it is an affront to all those with a belief in justice. We call on Gordon Brown to take a principled stand and take urgent steps to ensure that the UK takes a lead within the UN Security Council to fulfil its obligation to ensure the referendum on self-determination that was agreed under the terms of the UN ceasefire agreement in 1991.”

Contact: Press Office – 0794 9999 435 or  freesaharacampaign@gmail.com
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The delegation is a joint initiative by led by the All Party Parliamentary Group on Western Sahara, the Polisario Front, the Western Sahara Campaign UK, the charity Sandblast and the Free Western Sahara Network.

Delegates included

Jeremy Corbyn MP,
Her Excellency Lindiwe Mabuza (High Commissioner of South Africa)
Y.Lamine Baali (Polisario Front, chief-representative in UK and Ireland)
Mohamed Liman Ali Ami (Polisario Front)
Ken Ritchie (Western Sahara Campaign UK)
Jean Lambert MEP (European Parliamentary Green Party)
His Excellency Murad Ajali (Minister Consular, Algerian Embassy)
Ruth Tanner (campaigns and policy director, War on Want)
Glyn Ford MEP (European Parliamentary Labour Party)
Giles Forman (Sandblast)
Stefan Simanowitz (Free Western Sahara Network)
David Cameron MP, leader of the opposition, was unable attend due to diary constraints but requested that he be kept informed about the campaign.

Members of the APPG on Western Sahara
Sally Keeble MP David Drew MP
Ann Clwyd MP Joan Walley MP
Katy Clark MP Kelvin Hopkins MP
Paul Flynn MP John Grogan MP
John Austin MP John Bercow MP
Daniel Kawczynski MP Peter Bottomley MP
Nigel Evans MP Robert Walter MP
Sir George Young MP Mark Williams MP
Mike Hancock MP Bob Spink MP
Hywel Williams MP


Background to the situation in Western Sahara

Western Sahara is about the size of Britain and lies along the Atlantic Coast of Africa. King Hassan illegally invaded and occupied Western Sahara in 1975. Tens of thousands of indigenous Saharawi people fled the invaders to escape Moroccan napalm and bombing. Hundreds died and more were injured, forcing the survivors to seek refuge in neighbouring Algeria where they built refugee camps. Today more than 160,000 Saharawi people continue to struggle to build a life in isolated camps inside Algeria.

In 1975 the International Court of Justice and the UN recognised the right of the Saharawi people to their self-determination and condemned the invasion. Since 1975 75 countries have recognised the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR). No country recognises either the Moroccan annexation or its sovereignty over Western Sahara. SADR is a full member of the African Union.

The Saharawi people refused to accept the illegal occupation and waged a war against the Moroccan forces. To defend against Saharawi attacks Morocco built the Berm, a 1500 mile wall of sand and stone protected with mines, radar and barbed wire, dividing the territory. This is manned by 120,000 troops. The wall, sealing in the majority of the territory and blocking escape, has also created a wall of silence sealing the territory from the outside world.

Following a cease-fire in 1991, the UN adopted a Peace Plan accepted by both parties. The plan allowed for the Saharawis to decide their self-determination in a referendum scheduled for January 1992. A UN mission, MINURSO was established to facilitate this operation. This referendum has still not taken place. Morocco now rejects any proposal that offers self-determination. MINURSO's current mandate runs until April 2010.

Human Rights: Inside the occupied territory, Saharawis are denied political rights and suffer continuing discrimination, and sometimes worse (there are around 500 Saharawi “disappeared”). Outside the territory, some 165,000 refugees who were driven out by the Moroccan invasion have remained in isolated desert camps in south-western Algeria, largely dependent on aid (much of it from the EU) and increasingly frustrated that their legal right to return to their own country will not be upheld. Unsurprisingly, there have been reports of demonstrations in towns of the occupied territory, violently broken up by Moroccan forces, and arrests and torture of Saharawis, the indigenous inhabitants of the territory. The prominent activist Aminatou Haidar, who was savagely beaten by Moroccan police and held on charges of defaming the Moroccan flag, has recently been awarded the R F Kennedy Human Rights Award for her work on behalf of the self-determination of Western Sahara and against government abuses and disappearances of prisoners of conscience. There are few if any outside journalists in the Western Sahara (and those that do visit are marshalled by the Moroccan authorities), so there has been little or no mention of these.

Profiting from the Occupation: While thousands of the Saharawi people struggle to survive in the Algerian desert, dependent for their every need on international aid, Morocco continues to plunder the rich natural resources of their country to fund its illegal occupation.

Generals and politicians associated with the occupation reap the benefits of Western Sahara’s fishing and phosphate industries. Some of the richest fishing grounds in the world are off the coast. Western Sahara is rich in minerals and natural resources with one of the largest concentrations of phosphates in the world as well as iron, uranium and oil reserves. Control of the Western Saharan phosphates, together with its own reserves gave Morocco control of 80% of the world’s phosphates; over the last two years phosphate prices have risen eight-fold so that Morocco gains $1.5 billion a year from its exploitation of Western Saharan phosphates.

Money spent within the territory is aimed primarily at Moroccan settlers while Saharawis continue to suffer from high unemployment. This drastically unfair distribution is sure to worsen if Morocco succeeds in exploiting the potential oil and natural gas reserves off the Western Sahara coastline.
The European Union has negotiated a fishing agreement with Morocco that fails to distinguish between the waters of Morocco and those of Western Sahara leading to the illegal overfishing of Western Sahara’s waters.