Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith and Chiswick)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will make it his policy to call on MINURSO to (a) conduct human rights monitoring in Western Sahara and (b) report their finding to the UN Security Council.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK is committed to the promotion and protection of human rights worldwide, including in Western Sahara. Our policy regarding the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) is informed by ongoing engagement with the parties and regular meetings and consultation with regional and international partners, including MINURSO, the UN, civil society, and the broader international community. The UK has previously supported language in UN Security Council Resolutions that encourages the parties to enhance the promotion and protection of human rights in Western Sahara.
Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith and Chiswick)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will make his policy to talk to his Moroccan counterpart on the blocking of visits by (a) parliamentarians, (b) researchers, (c) journalists and (d) lawyers to occupied Western Sahara.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK Government consistently urges all states to uphold international law, and we continue to encourage constructive engagement with the political process regarding Western Sahara. We have supported language in relevant UN Security Council Resolutions that encourages the parties to continue their efforts to enhance the promotion and protection of human rights in Western Sahara, including the freedoms of expression and association. The UK also shares a bilateral Human Rights Dialogue with Morocco, the third session of which is due to take place in London by the end of the year.
Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith and Chiswick)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the implications for his Department’s policies of the UN Secretary General’s designation of Western Sahara as a non-self-governing territory in the process of decolonisation.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Western Sahara is a UN Non-Self-Governing Territory with no defined Administering Power. The UK has endorsed Morocco's autonomy plan as the most credible, viable and pragmatic basis for a lasting solution of the Western Sahara conflict and welcomed Morocco's stated commitment to provide further details of what autonomy within a Moroccan state could entail, with a view to restarting serious negotiations. In that context, we continue to engage with all relevant parties in support of the UN-led process to achieve a just, lasting and mutually acceptable solution, based on compromise, which conforms with the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, including the principle of respect for self-determination.