January 2025 newsletter

January 2025

MINURSO renewal

As was to be expected the UN mission on Western Sahara (MINURSO), was again renewed this October with a further renewal to take place in 12 months as is standard. Algeria, the strongest supporter of  Saharawi self-determination, once again did not hold back in their frustration at MINURSO’s failure to properly implement anything. MINURSO’s renewal passed with 12 votes in favour, 0 against and 2 abstentations (Mozambique and the Russian Federation), 

Algeria refused to vote, not out of lack of interest, but as a clear sign of frustration towards the failure of the UN process. Algeria stated their points were ignored and they had no faith in the UN security council to implement the agreed referendum of self-determination, thus forcing them to not participate in the vote. Mozambique abstained on the same grounds, and Russia abstained due to disagreements with the United States involvement, this is very much seen as a political move by Russia and not in favour of the Saharawi cause. 

We and many others did try and pressure MINURSO to be renewed every 6 months as opposed to 12. This however was not implemented by the renewal. We also called for a human rights mandate to be included in MINURSO’s remit as human rights remain one of the biggest concerns for the Saharawi. The occupied territories are ranked in the bottom 5 for human rights by Freedom House. Although the mandate to monitor human rights was not included, the renewal states: “It also strongly urged enhancing cooperation with the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), including through facilitating visits to the region, and strongly urged Member States to provide new and additional contributions to fund food programmes to ensure the refugees’ humanitarian needs are adequately met.” We are hoping that the above is acting as a warm up for the implementation of a human rights mandate at the next review. 

Thank you to all who supported our campaign - we have been told that the Foreign Office desk officer has noticed the volume of letters he receives on Western Sahara. 

Resilience in Resistance”- Tone Sørfonn Moe

Today, on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, we present Resilience in Resistance, a report authored by Sahrawi women human rights defenders. This critical document uncovers the systematic use of gender-based violence by Moroccan authorities in occupied Western Sahara, designed to silence women activists through a "wheel of reprisals.”

Sahrawi women face economic strangulation, arbitrary arrests, defamation, sexual violence, and torture, amplified by the exploitation of conservative social norms. These violations aim to undermine their activism, isolate them from their communities, and deter the Sahrawi people from their rightful struggle for self-determination.

The report provides compelling evidence of Morocco’s violations of international law, including its obligations under CEDAW and Geneva Conventions. It highlights the urgent need for action, offering concrete recommendations for the UN, human rights organizations, and the international community.

The resilience of Sahrawi women in the face of these atrocities is extraordinary. But their struggle cannot be waged alone. Your action can make a decisive difference in safeguarding their rights and advancing their pursuit of justice. We thus ask you to share, but also respond to the call from the authors of the report.

Read the report here.

Stand with the Saharawi

On Saturday 23 November the third Stand with the Saharawi event took place at Unite's office at The Angel, Islington. Unite has supported self-determination for Saharawi people for many years and provided the venue free of charge.

The five UK based solidarity organisations invited Saharawi refugees and their memberships to come together to discuss how we can work together for the Saharawi cause. Sandblast talked about exciting plans to bring children over next year and increase their educational activities in the camps. Learn more about Sandblast here. 

Olive Branch are working with Amnesty international branches to raise awareness of human rights abuse in the occupied territories and they are off to the camps again to deliver photography workshops. They want your old digital camera. Learn more about Olive Branch here. 

The Manchester Saharawi Support Group are supporting the garden in the desert and planning their annual ramble that will take place on 6 September next year. Learn about them here. 

Adala continue to document human rights abuse in the occupied territory, and expose the brutal occupation by the Moroccan regime. Learn more about Adala here. 

We were also pleased to welcome Saharawi and new supporters who brought energy to the meeting.

We heard about recent developments at the United Nations and the European Court of Justice from Sidi Breika, the official representative of The Polisario Front in the UK. We were also pleased to welcome a representative from the Algerian Embassy.

We decided to work together to plan a programme of events to mark the 50th Anniversary of the Madrid Accords and the subsequent illegal occupation of the Western Sahara.

Trump and Starmer and what it could mean for Western Sahara

The recent election of Donald Trump does not bode well for the Saharawi cause of self determination. Many of you will remember the agreement between Israel and Morocco facilitated by Donald Trump's administration in 2020. The agreement was the first formal recognition of Morocco’s illegal occupation and also reflected growing relationships between Morocco and Israel. Morocco would recognise the sovereignty of Israel, and in return the United States and Israel would recognise the Moroccan occupation of Western Sahara. It was on the back of this that the United States opened its first consulate building in the occupied Western Sahara, a move that many feared would be followed by other western powers. Luckily this did not materialise and the United States remained isolated in their decision to open a consulate building in Western Sahara. 

However, as we have recently reported, the Moroccan autonomy plan which is nothing more than a formal recognition of their occupation has been gaining some support in Europe. With President Macron having recently publicly declared support for the autonomy plan and Spain rumoured to soon follow suit. Donald Trump's presidency will only bolster the Moroccan illegal occupation of Western Sahara. 

We recently wrote to the foreign office under the new Labour government to ask them to explain their position and to guarantee they would not follow France in their recognition of the autonomy plan. The response we received although not perfect did provide some assurances.. 

Hamish Falconer MP and Minister for North Africa responded to our letter. The letter detailed the Labour Government's commitment to the United Nations MINURSO plan and made no mention of the Moroccan autonomy plan. The minister also used the term “which will provide for the self-determination of the people of Western Sahara”. 

The government position was also made clear recently in parliament. When on the day of the budget a Tory MP who once acted as a trade envoy to Morocco (wink wink), tabled a motion asking the UK government to back the autonomy plan. This was met with no support. Jeremy Corbyn MP spoke in support of the Saharawi right to self-determination alongside Labour MP Andy Slaughter who had met WSCUK earlier in the day. They both made it clear to Hamish Falconer that this autonomy plan was nothing short of Moroccan expansion and a legitimisation of the occupation. Falconer's response was decent, he reiterated the above points and made it clear the Labour government was not planning to back the autonomy plan. We must hold them to this. The Sahara Press Service have published a detailed account and article on this, which can be found here.

We must keep the pressure up on the Labour Government to fulfil their promises and to act to support decolonisation and a just solution for the Saharawi: words are not enough. We need the Labour government to use their permanent position on the UN security council to finally deliver justice for Africa’s last colony. 

What is made clear is that letters and pressure on MP’s and the Foreign Office do work, they show the Labour Government that people in this country do care for international justice. 

Please do write to your local MP. Please see our take action page for support on this. If you need assistance with this please do reach out to us at chair@wshara.org.uk 

Ken Ritchie, our Treasurer, wrote this piece for Labour Outlook.

EU Court Case

The judicial system once again decided in favour of the cause of the Saharawi. The European Court of Justice (ECJ), recently ruled that a 2019 trade deal between the EU Bloc and Morocco was invalid. 

It was invalid as the agreement included Western Sahara, without consent from the true peoples of Western Sahara and their recognised representatives, the Polisario Front. The court confirmed previous rulings in stating that trade agreements must treat Western Sahara as an entirely separate entity to Morocco, and that any trade agreements with Western Sahara must gain the consent of the Polisario Front. 

This was a massive victory for the Polisario, as the ECJ also recognised the Polisarios standing as the representatives of the Saharawi, something the court has failed to previously do. 

We are considering how we can use this judgement in putting further pressure on the Labour Government to apply international law to its trade agreements with Morocco.

Solidarity Bike Ride

A fundraising and awareness campaign has been taken around the world by Solidarity Rising called bike4westernsahara. In 2 years they have cycled 30,000km across 30 countries. Stopping along the way to educate people on Western Sahara and raise funds for the refugee camps. 

They are carrying out a very selfless act and bringing lots of attention to the cause, not too dissimilar to the recent British man Russ Cook who ran across the whole of Africa in 300 days, passing through Western Sahara, he also donated some of his fundraising money to Sandblast a charity who advocate for Saharawi self determination and support artistic campaigns and educational programmes in the camps. 

If you would like to donate to bike4westernsahara please see here. Please note they are not affiliated with us and have not asked us to post their donation link.

Adala UK concerned about the murder of Omar Bahia Abdelmajid

Omar Bahia Abdelmajid, a Saharawi human rights activist, was murdered in a Moroccan prison. Omar was illegally detained on 3rd November for protesting against the Moroccan occupation and in support of Saharawi self-determination. Witnesses saw him being beaten and within days he was dead.

The murder of a Saharawi for expressing his inalienable right to self-determination must be challenged, and Morocco's ability to avoid international accountability must be ended. 

You can read more about the horrifying case of Omar Bahia Abdelmajid here. 

Norwegians deported from occupied Western Sahara – they wanted to learn about renewable energy

25 Moroccan police officers showed up to expel two Norwegians from occupied Western Sahara. The two had travelled to learn what the Sahrawis think about Morocco's controversial renewable energy projects on occupied land.

“As long as the Sahrawis cannot express themselves about Morocco's climate projects, serious alarm bells should ring for states and companies. Not only is it wrong to support occupation, but agreements with Morocco are also on shaky legal ground if the Sahrawis' right to self-determination is not respected. And Morocco has absolutely no interest in addressing that right,” says Heltne.

Morocco uses renewable energy, among other things, to settle Moroccan citizens in the occupied territory."

To read the full article and see videos of the arrest please see here.

Ryanair announces flights to occupied territory

The Irish airline has announced a new route to Dakhla in “Morocco”, praising the occupying power for its ”support and vision in securing this major investment".

Ryanair will start flying from Spain to Dakhla in occupied Western Sahara from January 2025, connecting the town with Madrid and Lanzarote.  

The problem, of course, is that Dakhla is not located within the kingdom of Morocco at all, but in the part of Western Sahara that is under foreign Moroccan occupation. 

To read more please see here.

Meeting in HofC/APPG

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.

In the model letter to MPs we are also asking them to ask the Foreign Secretary to raise the murder of Omar Bahia Abdelmajid with the Moroccan Embassy in London as well as asking our embassy in Morocco to investigate this case.

UN committee highlights Moroccan impunity in occupied Western Sahara

Sahrawi civil society welcomes a new report from the UN Committee on Enforced Disappearance, and urges exhumations and identification of victims in the Morocco-occupied Western Sahara.

Moroccan officials suspected of carrying out enforced disappearances and other serious crimes in occupied Western Sahara continue to hold positions of power, according to a report found here.

The report highlights how Morocco perpetuates a “climate of impunity” by refusing to investigate and hold perpetrators accountable, instead allowing them to "remain in their posts, including in the security and justice sectors”. 

Since its 1975 invasion of Western Sahara, Morocco has systematically used enforced disappearances as a tool of repression and to suppress the Saharawi people’s right to self-determination. The root of the violations highlighted by the UN CED lies in Morocco’s colonial occupation of Western Sahara and the apartheid regime that Morocco has imposed in the territory, according to Tone Sørfonn Moe, international human rights lawyer serving as legal counsel for Sahrawi victims. 

"The continued denial of the right to self-determination of the people of Western Sahara is the cause of all other violations and discrimination against the Sahrawi people”, she stated. 

To read more please see here