“The Kingdom of Morocco reiterates its commitment to reach a final political settlement to the artificial regional dispute over the Moroccan Sahara, based on the Moroccan autonomy initiative, the only solution to this dispute, and this within the framework of the territorial integrity and national sovereignty of the Kingdom,” said Akhannouch in the statement on behalf of Morocco before the 77th UN General Assembly.
The Head of Government recalled that this “serious and realistic” initiative enjoys, since its presentation in 2007, the support of the Security Council and over 90 countries.
“On the ground, the southern provinces live at the pace of an irreversible development dynamic, under the new development model launched by HM King Mohammed VI in 2015,” said Akhannouch, indicating that the people of the region participate fully in all stages of implementation of this ambitious model, through their democratically elected representatives in the Councils of the two regions of the Moroccan Sahara.
He also noted that the active participation of the populations of the Moroccan Sahara in all aspects of political, economic, social and cultural life reflects their commitment to the territorial integrity of Morocco and the Moroccanness of the Sahara.
The Head of Government also reiterated Morocco’s full support, as emphasized in the speech of HM King Mohammed VI on the occasion of the 46th anniversary of the Green March, to the efforts of the UN Secretary General and his Personal Envoy to relaunch the roundtable process in the same format and with the same participants, in order to reach a realistic and lasting political solution, based on compromise, in accordance with the resolutions of the Security Council, including 2602.
“The participation of Algeria, with seriousness and good faith, in the roundtable process, as well as its proven responsibility in the creation and maintenance of this artificial dispute, is a sine qua non condition for achieving a final settlement to this issue,” said Akhannouch.
Morocco has again expressed its deep concern about the catastrophic humanitarian situation and the state of lawlessness that the populations of the Tindouf camps are living, said the Head of Government, stressing that Algeria, in flagrant violation of international humanitarian law, has ceded its powers over this part of its territory to armed separatist militias with proven and confirmed links with dangerous terrorist networks in the Sahel region.
In this context, Akhannouch reiterated the call of Morocco to the international community to encourage Algeria to respond to the appeals of the Security Council launched since 2011, to allow the UN High Commissioner for Refugees to proceed with the census and registration of the population held against its will in the Tindouf camps.
