PUSL.- Following Timor-Leste’s independence in 2002, diplomatic relations were immediately established between the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste and the Sahrawi Arab Republic (SADR).
Timor-Leste ceded full diplomatic representation to the ‘Sahrawi Republic’s Embassy in 2010 in Dili. SADR is currently represented by Ambassador Abba Malainin and the chargé d’affaires, Mr. Mohamed Aghay.
The Sahrawi Embassy in Dili promotes Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic interests in Timor-Leste and also plays an important role in development, cultural affairs and contacts with the local press.
The recent history of Timor and Western Sahara, colonisation by Iberian actors, followed by abandonment and invasion by neighbouring countries unites the two peoples. Timor’s experience of guerrilla warfare in a very different terrain from the Sahara desert nevertheless has many points in common, starting with the resilience of a people much smaller in number than the invader and without technical and economic means.
East Timor managed to achieve its liberation after years of innocent bloodshed and the holding of a referendum. A referendum which was also agreed in the case of Western Sahara, but which Morocco completely invalidates by going back on its word.
On the occasion of Timor-Leste’s acceptance as a member of the United Nations, the then President Kay Rala Xanana Gusmão called for “the replication of the implementation of the United Nations plan for a referendum on self-determination for Western Sahara”, stressing that “only a democratic, fair and free vote, such as the one held in Timor-Leste, can put an end to this unjust situation”. This referendum, called for in several UN resolutions, has still not been implemented.
The Timorese people feel its recent history in their own skin and, not forgetting their own history, have shown unconditional support for the Saharawi people in their struggle for liberation.
When the then Saharawi President, Mohamed Abdelaziz, visited Timor-Leste in 2002, he declared that “the People of Timor-Leste and the People of Western Sahara are ‘twin peoples’, who have endured the same suffering, with enormous sacrifices, resisting and fighting side by side for the right to be respected by their expansionist neighbours”.
Timorese support for SADR is evident in multiple statements by the government and Timorese parties, but also in international forums, namely at the United Nations, whether at the General Assembly, the 4th Committee on Decolonization or in Geneva at the human rights sessions. Also in the XVI Congress of the Polisario Front in January 2023, Timor-Leste was present with official representation and with several solidarity messages.
In the CPLP (Community of Portuguese Language Countries) composed of nine member states, (Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Equatorial Guinea, Mozambique, Portugal, São Tomé and Príncipe and Timor-Leste), East Timor, like Angola and Mozambique, recognizes SADR. Morocco, the illegal occupier of Western Sahara, has been trying for more than a decade to join the CPLP as an observer without success and does not meet the basic requirements of respect for human rights.
As a small country with a population of approximately 1.4 million and just over two decades of independence, East Timor has been active in the international political arena within the constraints of a newly liberated country.
East Timor’s support for the Saharawi people is based not only on international law, justice and solidarity, but also on its own journey, experience and suffering. East Timor’s contacts in the Catholic world and in the region could be a great asset in the Western Sahara issue.
