Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if she will make representations to her Moroccan counterpart on (a) the inability of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to conduct any visits to Western Sahara during the last six years and (b) the resulting gaps in human rights monitoring in that non-self-governing territory.

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has conducted several visits to Western Sahara since 2011, the latest of which was in January 2016. Details of these visits can be found on the OHCHR website. We have consistently supported language in the relevant UN Security Council Resolutions which encourages the parties to continue their efforts to enhance the promotion and protection of human rights in Western Sahara.