Referendum: Western Sahara Renews Calls For International Pressure On Morocco

The Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), also known as Western Sahara, has ramped up calls on the global community to exert more pressure on the Kingdom of Morocco to adhere to the globally recognised agreement for the people of Western Sahara under Morocco’s occupation to determine their political future through referendum.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, Mohamed Yeslem Beissat, extended this intensified efforts for freedom for his people and country when he visited Nigeria to plead for support on resolution of the crisis.

The Saharawi Minister paid a visit to the National Assembly and had discussion with his Nigerian counterpart, Ambassador Yusuf Tuggar, where he presented the current status of his country and the attitude of Morocco to undermine freedom of Western Sahara.

The Minister also spoke to journalists in Abuja after the meetings, stressing that for the peace of the Maghreb, Morocco must be compelled to respect the political will of the people of Western Sahara which can only be achieved through a referendum.

The Minister noted that Morocco’s colonial adventure in Western Sahara was based on its intention to grab the resources of the Western Sahara with the backing of France. He, however, vowed that his people will continue to agitate for freedom even as he was optimistic that freedom would eventually come.

He described Morocco’s colonial adventure in Western Sahara as “very costly”, adding that the Kingdom loses from 3.5% to 4% of its GDP annually, as well as enormous expenses on military exercise.

“Morocco has the longest berm in the world. It’s longer than the berm between the US and Mexico. It’s longer than the two berms France built in the Algerian War, Charles and Maginot.

“It’s longer than the Berlin Wall and the wall that Israel built to protect Sinai. It’s the longest wall in the world, 2,700 kilometres, running from South Morocco to North Mauritania. In this wall, stationed there are more than 120,000 soldiers to occupy this land.

“It is going to double the salary of the soldiers, buy very sophisticated drones and satellites, all to continue its illegal occupation of Western Sahara, which cannot be continued. So, the economic, financial and political costs in the terms and image of Morocco and its relations with its neighbours are very huge.

“Now, the whole of the region of the Maghreb is blocked. There is no regional cooperation or regional integration because of the position of our three neighbours. Two of them recognise us, which is Algeria and Mauritania.

“And Morocco is the only one who doesn’t recognise us from our neighbours. And this really causes Morocco a big problem. Their relation with Europe is frozen because of the European court ruling on Western Sahara.

“It cannot continue a relation ignoring this, and he cannot stop a relation because Europe is so important for them. Their relation with the United Nations, their relation with the world, Morocco is the biggest prison of its colonial adventure, its failure of its colonial adventure. Now, they are making a lot of noise about autonomy, but it’s a cul-de-sac.

“It’s a closed road, anyone cannot accept one single, one-sided position to be imposed on a people. No one can support that.”