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Statement of the Frente POLISARIO on the Question of Western Sahara by Ambassador Sidi M. Omar
C-24 Substantive Session New York, 13 June 2023
Madam Chair,
It is a pleasure to address the Special Committee again on behalf of the Frente POLISARIO, the legitimate and sole Representative of the people of the Non-Self- Governing Territory of Western Sahara in line with relevant General Assembly and Security Council resolutions.
Distinguished Members of the Committee and Representatives of Member States,
Almost sixty years ago, this Committee listed Western Sahara (the then Spanish Sahara) as a Non-Self-Governing Territory, recognising the status of the Territory as a decolonisation issue and the responsibility of the United Nations towards the Sahrawi people.
Forty-eight years ago, the first and last Visiting Mission sent by this same Committee to Western Sahara confirmed in its report that the Sahrawis enormously favoured independence and opposed any integration with Morocco and Mauritania, and that the Frente POLISARIO was the dominant political force in the Territory and enjoyed massive support for its demand for independence.
However, the people of Western Sahara, the last colony in Africa, are still denied the exercise of their inalienable right to self-determination and independence. The United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO), which was established by the Security Council in 1991, has not been able yet to fulfil its mandate and hold the long-awaited referendum for the Sahrawi people.
The illegal occupation of Western Sahara by Morocco, which was deeply deplored by the General Assembly, continues relentlessly. The continued occupation of a Territory on the UN agenda is a matter of shame for the international community and an insult to the UN Charter and all that which this Committee represents.
Now you may ask why the decolonisation of Western Sahara remains unfinished when the legal status of the Territory has been clearly and firmly established by the United Nations. The answer is unfortunately simple.
It is the indefensible inaction of the international community that has encouraged the occupying state of Morocco to continue, with complete impunity, to occupy by force parts of Western Sahara, to violate UN resolutions and to impede the decolonisation of the Territory. It is as simple as that.
Madam Chair, Distinguished Members of the Committee and Representatives of Member States,
As confirmed by the International Court of Justice in 1975 and by all relevant resolutions of the General Assembly, the right of the people of Western Sahara to self- determination and independence is inalienable, non-negotiable and it can never be affected by the lapse of time or by the fait accompli imposed by force in the Territory by the occupying state of Morocco.
The long walk of the Sahrawi people to freedom is unstoppable and irreversible, and this is our message to you and to the world.
While we remain fully committed to reaching an early and peaceful solution to the decolonisation of Western Sahara, we are equally and strongly attached to our inalienable and non-negotiable right to self-determination and independence.
We will never accept any fait accompli-based solution, and we will continue to defend our rights and national aspirations by all legitimate means however long it takes.
I thank you for your attention.
