Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent diplomatic steps his Department has taken to help resolve the conflict in the Western Sahara.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK supports UN-led efforts to reach a just, lasting, and mutually acceptable political solution, based on compromise, which will provide for the self-determination of the people of Western Sahara. We strongly support the work of Staffan de Mistura, Personal Envoy of the UN Secretary-General, and regularly engage key partners to encourage constructive engagement with the political process. Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon reiterated the UK's position to Morocco's Foreign Minister at the 4th UK-Morocco Strategic Dialogue on 9th May. Dame Barbara Woodward, UK Permanent Representative to the UN, discussed the UK's position with her Moroccan counterpart on 18th April.
Asked by: James Duddridge (Conservative - Rochford and Southend East)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, if she will make an assessment of any potential disruption to the UK Morocco Association Agreement and the risk to securing access to affordable fruits and vegetable sold in the UK market.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The UK Morocco Association Agreement has been in operation since 1 January 2021 and we are now working effectively with Morocco to assess how we can maximise trade under the agreement. At the trade sub-committee earlier this year, we discussed a range of priority sectors, including fruits and vegetables which constitute around 35% of all goods imported from Morocco to the UK.
There is an ongoing Judicial Review pertaining to the application of the Association Agreement to the Western Sahara. We are unable to comment as this is a matter of sub-judice whilst the matter is in UK courts.
Asked by: Lyn Brown (Labour - West Ham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps she plans to take to raise with her Moroccan counterpart allegations of physical and sexual abuse by Moroccan authorities of Sahrawi women activists in Boujdour, Western Sahara.
Answered by Graham Stuart
Support for human rights is a UK priority around the world. We raise human rights issues with Morocco accordingly and continue to monitor cases in Western Sahara, including by encouraging the investigation of such allegations both by the relevant authorities and Morocco's national human rights body.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool, Riverside)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether she asked the UK Ambassador to Morocco to send an observer to the trial of two students from Western Sahara, Mohammed Layichi and Hassan Alloud, which commenced on 5 May in Agadir.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
Human rights is a UK priority around the world, including in Morocco. We regularly discuss human rights issues with the Moroccan authorities, including individual cases.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
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 the (a) government of Morocco and (b) United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change on Morocco’s inclusion of projects in occupied Western Sahara in relation to that country's National Determined Contribution.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
The UK Government worked closely with Morocco to raise global climate ambition ahead of this year's COP26. Morocco hosted COP22 and are considered one of Africa's leaders on climate change, especially on renewables. The UK supports the World Bank's work with Morocco on coal reduction, through the Energy Sector Management Assistance Programme (ESMAP). The UK has no plans to raise the territorial application of Morocco's National Determined Contribution.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool, Riverside)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 21 October 2021 to Question 57453 on Western Sahara: Trade Agreements, whether the Polisario Front was consulted on the inclusion of products from the non-self-governing territory of Western Sahara in the UK-Morocco Association Agreement.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
The UK is clear that the application of the UK-Morocco Association Agreement is without prejudice to our position on the status of Western Sahara, which we regard as undetermined. The UK supports UN-led efforts to reach a just, lasting and mutually acceptable political solution that provides for the self-determination of the people of Western Sahara.
Products originating in Western Sahara subject to controls by customs authorities of Morocco benefit from the same trade preferences as those granted by the United Kingdom to products covered by the Agreement.
Asked by: Alan Brown (Scottish National Party - Kilmarnock and Loudoun)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if she will raise with her Moroccan counterpart the stamping of MINURSO passports by Morocco.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
We are closely monitoring the situation in Western Sahara. We have regular discussions with the parties and remain in close contact with the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO). The UK fully supports the UN's efforts to achieve a just, lasting and mutually acceptable political solution that provides for the self-determination of the people of Western Sahara.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool, Riverside)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps she plans to take in response to the concerns of OHCHR on the restrictions imposed by Morocco on the rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association in Western Sahara.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
Human rights, including freedom of expression, is a UK priority around the world. We raise human rights issues with Morocco accordingly and continue to monitor cases in Western Sahara.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool, Riverside)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if she will raise with her Moroccan counterpart the UN Human Rights Committee's recommendation that Morocco obtain the consent of the people of Western Sahara for the realisation of developmental projects and resource extraction operations.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
The UK notes the United Nations legal view from 2002, which stated that commercial activity in Western Sahara (including the exploration for, and exploitation of natural resources) is not inherently illegal but must be for the benefit of people of Western Sahara.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if she will raise with her Moroccan counterpart the matter of Morocco requiring MINURSO to use Moroccan vehicle number plates in occupied Western Sahara in contravention of the status of mission agreement.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
We are closely monitoring the situation in Western Sahara. We have regular discussions with the parties and remain in close contact with MINURSO. The UK fully supports the UN's efforts to achieve a just, lasting and mutually acceptable political solution that provides for the self-determination of the people of Western Sahara.