Brussels, 08/02/2010 (Agence Europe) - A delegation of Sahraoui leaders, supporters of Morocco's position against the autonomy of the Western Sahara, headed by Ahmadou Souilem, a former Polisario member, as well as the independence movement supported by the African Union and the UN, spent the end of last week in Brussels in meetings at the European Parliament. The goal wass to retain EU support in view of the informal meetings on 10-11 February in New York under the auspices of the UN for a statute on the territory of the Western Sahara, which has been under Moroccan administration since 1975, when it was annexed as the country's “southern provinces”.
The European position has not shifted and is included in the international efforts made by the personal envoy of the secretary-general of the UN, Christopher Ross. This also includes humanitarian assistance to the Sahraoui population. Last June, the EU allocated, through ECHO, €10 million in humanitarian aid to the people of this region living in camps near Tindouf, western Algeria. These refugees fled Moroccan soldiers and have been living in for camps in the desert region of Tindouf for 30 years. The EU is the main donor in this long drawn out humanitarian crisis. Since 1993, the Commission has provided more than €143 million in aid to the refugees and has demonstrated its solidarity to the victims of this prolonged crisis in this way, explained Commissioner Olli Rehn.
The European political position was recently reaffirmed during the most recent EU-Morocco Association Council on 7 December last. It remains “concerned” by the persistence of this conflict in the Western Sahara and deplores its “consequences and regional implications”. The EU fully supports the UN's efforts to obtain “a fair, sustainable and mutually acceptable political solution that will allow for the self-determination of the people of the Western Sahara as laid down in the United Nations resolutions”. Miguel Ángel Moratinos, the Spanish foreign affairs minister and acting president of the Council of the EU, gave his reply to a Parliamentary question on the mandate of the United Nations force, MINURSO, during a recent hearing at the Parliament (foreign affairs committee). He explained what he hoped to obtain from the negotiations between Morocco and Polisario: “We will see how things evolve. It is the Security Council that must decide on whether to extend MINURSO's mandate”. He added: “We are for the protection of human rights. Spain and the EU are in favour of a solution in the framework of the United Nations”.
In its position taken at the Association Council, the EU affirmed that it fully supported the ongoing negotiations and welcomed the commitment made by the parties to continue talks, which was indicative of their political determination to work together in an atmosphere conducive to dialogue in the aim of entering into a more intensive phase of negotiations in good faith, devoid of preconditions. The EU also welcomed the visit to the region of the UN high commissioner for refugees, António Guterres. The EU is encouraging the different sides to continue to collaborate with the HCR in confidence building measures, particularly those involving overland exchanges for family visits. The EU also said that it wanted an improvement in the human rights situation in the Western Sahara and underlined the obligations incumbent on each party in the protection of human rights. (F.B./transl.fl)