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Western Sahara Campaign UK
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We are the Western Sahara Campaign UK, campaigning to further support for the self determination of the Saharawi. We are always looking for volunteers and ideas no matter what they are. Please reach out to us on our contact page.
© Tfarah Abd Mulana
Britain supports Moroccan Autonomy Plan
Response to the UK-Morocco Joint Communiqué: Strategic Dialogue 2025
Dear Supporter,
On June 1st the FCDO issued an alarming press release following the 5th round of talks in the Morocco-UK strategic dialogue. On the Moroccan autonomy plan – a Moroccan proposal which would make Western Sahara part of Morocco – it stated:
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[...] As a Permanent Member of the UN Security Council, the United Kingdom agrees with Morocco on the urgent need to find a resolution to this long-held dispute
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[...] Both countries support, and consider vital, the central role of the UN-led process to bring the parties together and move the issue forward to achieve a just, lasting and mutually acceptable political solution and reaffirm their full support for the efforts of the UN Secretary-General’s Personal Envoy
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The UK is ready, willing and committed to lend its active support and engagement to the Personal Envoy and the parties to reach such a solution to this dispute.
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[...] In that context the UK, in encouraging the relevant parties to engage, urgently and positively, with the UN-led political process, considers Morocco’s autonomy proposal, submitted in 2007 as the most credible, viable and pragmatic basis for a lasting resolution of the dispute.
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The UK and the Kingdom of Morocco expressed their shared conviction that renewed efforts were urgently needed to support the PESG in the search for a solution, underlying that the only viable and durable solution will be one that is mutually acceptable to the relevant parties, and is arrived at through compromise.
This represents a significant departure from the UK’s previous position on the question of Western Sahara. Where previously the UK stood as the only permanent member of the UN Security Council to clearly uphold the Saharawi people’s right to self-determination, the increasing sympathy for the Moroccan Autonomy plan may undermine the UN’s efforts to pursue plans for a free and fair referendum for independence without the necessary accountability.
What does this mean for Western Sahara?
This statement risks sending a message to Morocco that the UK supports its illegal occupation. Without urgent action, the UK government will become complicit in a sustained denial of human rights, rejection of international law, and prolonged exposure for the Saharawi people to inhospitable conditions.
However, although we’re concerned with this statement, it makes it clear that:
1. The UK does not recognise Moroccan sovereignty claims over Western Sahara. This has been reaffirmed by the FCDO.
2. The UK government has reaffirmed that any resolution to the conflict must uphold the rights of the Saharawi people to self-determination.
3. Whilst the UK government flags the Autonomy Plan as the most credible, viable and pragmatic basis for a lasting resolution to the conflict—it has maintained that any potential solution must be agreed by both parties, and that the final decision lies with the people of Western Sahara.
What can we do now?
Now, more than ever, your voices are urgently needed to make sure our government does not sacrifice the rights of the Saharawi people for a few commercial deals with Morocco.
Whilst we’ll be meeting with MPs, unions, and other organisations, we need you to demonstrate visible support for the Saharawi people, and ensure that the UK is held accountable to uphold the principle of self-determination. At this moment of change, we are calling on your support.
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As members of the British Public, you can sign this petition to join the call on the British government to demand justice for the Saharawi and Western Sahara. We ask that you do this, and share the petition across your own networks and social media platforms. These efforts are vital to signal support for the Saharawi that exists in civil society, and will work to hold the government accountable over this shift.
2. Writing to your MP can crucially signal that they have constituents who stand in solidarity with the Saharawi people. Showing support within Parliament is important in counteracting Moroccan lobbying efforts. Please see guidance here for writing to your MP.
Write to your MP!
Please write to your MP. They have a duty to represent you, so ask them to raise your concerns with Hamish Falconer, the Under-Secretary of State at FCDO. Normally, an MP will pass your letter to the relevant minister and let you know what reply they get.
Now, more than ever, is the time for action.
Sign the Petition. Write to your MP. We at WSC UK cannot stress how much your efforts matter as we continue to work in solidarity with the Saharawi people to generate the support necessary to advance their right to self-determination and their human rights.
Please reach out to chair@wsahara.org.uk with any questions, or support in this matter.
News
Help free the Saharawi prisoners of Gdeim Izik
Switzerland will this year hold presidency of the UN Human Rights Council. The Switzerland Support Committee for the Saharawis (SUKS), has started a petition to pressure the Swiss government to call on Morocco to implement and follow human rights and to release the 19 prisoners who remain from the Gdeim Izik protest arrests.
Please sign this petition here.
SADR’s Future is certain, victory inevitable
Sahrawi ambassador Malainin Lakhal, Deputy Permanent Representative of the Sahrawi Republic to the African Union, affirmed in an interview published today by Africa News that the future belongs to the Sahrawi Republic as an irreversible reality and that victory is inevitable. He stated that the Sahrawi people are steadfastly advancing toward achieving their freedom and independence despite the attempts of the Moroccan occupier and its supporters from former colonial powers. - Sahara Press Service
The above is a snippit from a powerful interview given to Africa News by Malainin Lakhal an Ambassador for the Saharawi at the African Union. The interview shows the pure determination of the Saharawi people to see their justice is won. Please take the time to read the full interview here.
Greta Thunberg
Greta Thunberg the renowned climate activist has once again thrown her weight behind the cause of the ignored. She recently visited the refugee camps in Tindouf Algeria, in attendance at the recent International Solidarity conference. She spoke of the struggle of the Saharawi, their voicelessness on the international stage and the worlds complicity in the occupation. Greta made many comparisons with the plight of the Palestinians, her input may also help to hinder the Moroccan regimes attempt at greenwashing their occupation.
To read more please see our newsletter.
The All Party Parliamentary Group needs your support
As reported before we held a successful meeting in the House of Commons but we still need more members for the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Western Sahara. If you have not done so before please use this model letter to write to your MP and ask them to contact Ben Lake MP to say they are interested in joining the APPG.
Voices of the Saharawi people heard in the UK Parliament
On Monday, 20 October a packed room in the UK parliament heard the powerful voice of solidarity with the Saharawi people. The meeting had been called as a platform for Mahfud Bechir from Western Sahara is not for sale to talk about the importance of the recent judgement of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) and human rights abuse in the occupied territories.
Friday 4th October saw a crucial court victory for the Saharawi people as the ECJ issued a landmark ruling that occupied Western Sahara cannot be part of EU-Morocco agreements. He explained what action should now be take action to stop the plunder of Western Sahara and to address human rights abuse.
Sidi Breika, the official UK representative for the POLISARIO Front, also updated the meeting about the need for action by the UN to implement their plan for a referendum of self-determination and urged people to write to their MPs.
People were urged to write to their MPs and ask them to join the All Party Parliamentary Group on Western Sahara. Jeremy Corbyn MP, who kindly hosted the meeting, stressed the importance of more MPs taking up the issue in parliament. A model letter is available here to send to your MP.
The meeting was organised by the Western Sahara Action Forum – a collaboration between five UK based Saharawi solidarity organisations. Sandblast, the Western Sahara Campaign, Adala, Olive Branch Arts and Western Sahara Support Group. It was especially pleasing to see many of the growing Saharawi community in attendance as well as representatives from the Algerian Embassy.
Please see Sandblasts report of the event here.
Victory in the European Court of Justice
In a great victory of the Saharawi people the European Court of Justice has ruled that:
“The 2019 EU-Morocco trade agreements regarding fisheries and agricultural products, to which the people of Western Sahara did not consent, were concluded in breach of the principles of self-determination.”
Please read more here.
The Palestinian and Israeli Conflict
During our recent conference in London. We collectively decided and designed a statement on the recent increased conflict in Palestine and Israel. We condemn both the atrocities committed by Hamas against the Israeli people, and the collective punishment and war crimes that are being inflicted upon the Palestinian people by Benjamin Netanyahu. Both are unjustifiable and their situation is rooted in a colonial past and a system of oppression inflicted upon the Palestinian people.
Please read our statement here.
We need your support
The campaign needs support and help. We run solely on volunteers. If you think you can help in any way please get in contact. No matter your experience or knowledge your help will go a long way and will be greatly appreciated.
Please contact us at coordinator@wsahara.org.uk
A brief history of the Western Sahara from 1975
In 1975 Western Sahara was occupied by Morocco. An occupation that was judged illegal by the international Court of Justice and the UN Security Council. Since then the Saharawi, the indigenous people of the territory, have ben denied their basic right to self determination and have watched as other former colonies have gained their independance. Morocco has divided the country with a 1500km wall protected by landmines and heavily armed with troops. On one side is the occupied zone, roughly 75% of the territory. In which Morocco carry out a theft of phosphates, fisheries and crops to be illegaly sold as of Moroccan origin on the global trading market. It is illegal to display the flag of Western Sahara in the occupied zone, and there are many disappearances of those with the courage to speak up. The remaining 25% of Western Sahara, is administered by the elected representatives of the Saharawi people, the Polisario Front, and has been proclaimed as the Saharawi Democratic Arab Republic (SADR). However the majority of the Saharawi live in refugee camps near Tindouf in Algeria, who through solidarity have provided a large area to the Saharawi, to give them the ability to maintain an independant state even in exile.
Donate
The Campaign is soley reliant on donations from supporters of all walks of life, no matter how small the donation it will help in our fight to make the international community hold true to its promise and pledge of holding a referendum so that the people of the Western Sahara can decide their own future.