AFAPREDESA
The Association for the Families of Saharawi Prisoners and the Disappeared
Stealing resources: Australia and the United States, as the U.N., do not recognise Moroccan sovereignty
AFAPREDESA has received information on the matter from SPS, and has learned that both Ministries of Foreign Affairs acknowledge that the Western Sahara region does not belong to Morocco.
Australia
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade notes that given the status
of Western Sahara as a Non-Self-Governing Territory, there are international
law considerations with importing natural resources sourced from the Western
Sahara. we recommend that companies seek legal advice before importing such
material.
United States
It is interesting to mention that the US Department of State has more information on Western Sahara´s conflict in Morocco´s profile, than in Morocco´s Foreign Relations.
The issue of sovereignty over Western Sahara remains unresolved. The territory...
... At the OAU (now African Union) summit in June 1981, King Hassan announced his willingness to hold a referendum in the Western Sahara. Subsequent meetings of an OAU Implementation Committee proposed a cease-fire, a UN peacekeeping force, and an interim administration to assist with an OAU-UN-supervised referendum on the issue of independence or annexation. In 1984, the OAU seated a delegation of the Sahara Democratic Arab Republic (SDAR), the shadow government of the Polisario; Morocco, consequently, withdrew from the OAU.
In 1988, Moroccan and Polisario representatives agreed on a UN peace plan. A UN-brokered cease-fire and settlement plan went into effect on September 6, 1991. The Polisario have released many Moroccan POWs but still hold more than 400, even more than 25 years after the conflict began. The UN continues to explore with the parties ways of arriving at a mutually agreed political settlement and to promote confidence-building measures between the parties in the interim. Former Secretary of State James Baker resigned as the Secretary General’s Personal Envoy in June 2004. Following the departure of Alvaro DeSoto in May 2005, the position of Special Representative of the UN Secretary General for the Western Sahara remains vacant.
The United States has consistently supported the cease-fire and the UN's efforts at finding a peaceful settlement. While recognizing Morocco's administrative control of Western Sahara, the United States has not endorsed Morocco's claim of sovereignty.
European Union:
As SPS reports: The European Union, has however included the Saharawi territorial waters in the fishing accord it signed with Morocco last May. A decision that was qualified by Polisario Front as a "dangerous mistake", it should be recalled.
Graph: 2004 Country/Economy Fact Sheet on Morocco obtained by AFAPREDESA
Written by Raul Alvaro Fraser