Chahid El-Hafed (Sahrawi Republic) 30 October 2024 (SPS) – The Sahrawi government denounced the stance expressed by French President, Emmanuel Macron, in front of the Moroccan Parliament on Tuesday, saying that it effectively excludes France from any United Nations-led efforts to decolonize Western Sahara.

In a statement issued Tuesday, the Sahrawi government described Macron’s position as an encouragement of Morocco’s unlawful military occupation of Western Sahara, offering Rabat support to continue its brutal aggression against the Sahrawi people. This position, they warned, threatens to drive further tension and instability across North and West Africa.

Following is the full text of the Press Release:

Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic

Ministry of Information

Date: October 29, 2024

Press Release

French President, Emmanuel Macron, delivered a speech on Tuesday, October 29, 2024, in which he openly disregarded international legality, reaffirming his recognition of Morocco’s alleged sovereignty over Western Sahara, occupied militarily since October 31, 1975.

The Government of the Sahrawi Republic and the Polisario Front declare:

1- strong condemnation of the disgraceful position voiced by the French president in front of the Parliament of the occupying Moroccan state regarding Western Sahara.

2- Stress that Macron’s position on Western Sahara contradicts the UN Charter and its resolutions on the matter, undermining France’s responsibilities as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, which should be at the forefront of defending international law.

3- As a permanent member of the Security Council, which established the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) to conduct a self-determination referendum, France has effectively excluded itself from UN efforts to decolonize Western Sahara, the last African territory under colonial rule.

4- Macron’s stance supports Morocco’s illegal military occupation and encourages continued hostility against the Sahrawi Republic, potentially driving North and West Africa toward greater instability.

5- Macron’s stance emboldens Moroccan expansionist ambitions, encouraging attempts to alter internationally recognized borders, threatening neighbors, and seizing their lands in exchange for pitiful deals based on looting the occupied territory’s wealth at the expense of its defenseless, oppressed people. His position disregards the European Court of Justice and risks pulling the EU into contravening its rulings. This is a reckless policy that threatens both international peace and stability and even French interests in the region.

6- Macron has proven that Paris has obstructed UN efforts to decolonize Western Sahara since 1975, even deploying military air support during the conflict. To this day, France remains openly complicit in preventing the Sahrawi people from exercising their right to self-determination and independence.

7- Macron’s stance contradicts the positions of international organizations and courts, which doesn’t recognize the so-called Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara and classify Morocco’s presence there as an illegal occupation, as noted by the UN General Assembly’s resolutions on Western Sahara in 1979 and 1980.

8- Contrary to Macron’s assertion that his stance is non-hostile, it constitutes an assault on the Sahrawi people’s right to self-determination and independence, on the UN Charter and resolutions, on international and humanitarian law, on European law and the European Court of Justice, on France’s history as a founding nation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and on France’s obligations as a permanent UN Security Council member. It also undermines African aspirations for unity, freedom, and balanced relations with global partners, and harms prospects for cooperation in North and West Africa and the Mediterranean.

9- Macron’s declaration is not new. Even before his letter, conveyed by the Moroccan royal court, his ambassador in Rabat laid out a stance aligned with Morocco’s expansionist agenda. A former French UN ambassador similarly described the relationship between Morocco and France as one of protection and guardianship.

The sole and exclusive sovereign over Western Sahara is the Sahrawi people. Macron, nor anyone else, has the right to decide on their behalf. Under the legitimate leadership of the Polisario Front, the Sahrawi people remain resolute in resisting Moroccan occupation, with all legitimate means, including armed struggle, to secure their rights to freedom, independence, and full sovereignty over the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic.

Escalation of the struggle to oust occupation and accomplish full sovereignty (SPS)