Author Archives: appleton

1 December 2020: Senator Tim Ayres – adjournment speech about Western Sahara

Senator Tim Ayres. Senator for New South wales Australian Labor Party.  Image David Foote- AUSPIC/DPS.

COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA  THE SENATE
North Africa SPEECH
Tuesday, 1 December 2020
Senator Tim Ayres, Senator for New South Wales

In this excellent speech Senator Ayres spoke of the breakdown of the three-decade-long ceasefire saying the resumption of military action was a source of deep concern for the entire international community.

“Senator AYRES (New South Wales) (19:50): This evening I want to make a short contribution on a region that’s too often neglected in the parliament and in Australian public debate—that is, North Africa. The ceasefire between Morocco and the Western Sahara independence movement, Frente Polisario, has been an uneasy but longstanding source of stability in the region….(cont.)”

Hansard 1 December – Senator Ayres speech

View below:

 

Tired of stalemate, Saharawis support Polisario military action against Morocco

A handout picture published by the Moroccan army shows tents used by the Polisario Front ablaze near the Mauritanian border in Guerguerat (AFP)

The absence of a quick resolution to the recent flare-up in Western Sahara risks a wider regional conflict
By Habibulah Mohamed Lamin
Middle East Eye (MEE) 20 November 2020

Sahrawis have praised the move by the Polisario Front independence movement to confront the Moroccan army, having had enough of a decades-long stalemate that has kept them from claiming sovereignty over the contested land of Western Sahara. (…cont)

MEE article

Democracy Now: Four Days in Occupied Western Sahara

A Rare Look Inside Africa’s Last Colony as Ceasefire End
Democracy Now, Nov 27, 2020
In this special rebroadcast of a Democracy Now! exclusive documentary, we break the media blockade and go to occupied Western Sahara in the northwest of Africa to document the decades-long Sahrawi struggle for freedom and Morocco’s violent crackdown. Morocco has occupied the territory since 1975 in defiance of the United Nations and the international community. T

Watch on YouTube

Greens condemn violence in Western Sahara

MEDIA RELEASE
JANET RICE 25 NOV 2020 FOREIGN AFFAIRS
“The Australian Greens condemn the violence and breakdown in the UN-backed ceasefire in Western Sahara. Any acts of aggression by the Moroccan government are unacceptable, and the Australian Greens are profoundly concerned at reports that the Moroccan government has launched a military operation in a United Nations-patrolled buffer strip in Western Sahara.  The Australian Greens urge the UN to broker a renewed cease-fire as soon as possible.
Continue reading →

18/11/2020 AWSA releases Statement of solidarity with the people of Western Sahara

The ceasefire that has held in Western Sahara broke down on Friday 13 November, and has led to the resumption of full-scale hostilities between Morocco and Western Sahara.
Consequently there is a further deterioration of the geopolitical situation in the whole of the Maghreb.
The Australia Western Sahara Association (AWSA) condemns Morocco’s flagrant violation of the terms of the ceasefire and has released the following Statement:

Statement of solidarity with the people of Western Sahara
For immediate release, 18 November 2020

“The Australia Western Sahara Association expresses solidarity for the people of Western Sahara and strongly condemns Morocco’s flagrant violation of the terms of the ceasefire in Western Sahara on Friday 13 November 2020.
Under the peace accord the United Nations was to organise a referendum of self -determination for the people of Western Sahara allowing them to choose the status of their land, which has been occupied by Morocco since 1975. The referendum has never happened. Continue reading →

NGOs Geneva Support Group press release following resumption of the conflict

NGOs Geneva Support Group for the Protection and Promotion of Human Rights in Western Sahara (GSGPPHRWS)
Press Release, Bir Lehlu / Geneva,  19th November 2020

“The international community must ensure the exercise of the Saharawi people’s right to self-determination.
The Geneva Support Group for the Protection and Promotion of Human Rights in Western
Sahara (253 member organisations) condemns the breakdown of the ceasefire in force since
1991 in the Non-Self-Governing Territory of Western Sahara on the part of the Kingdom of
Morocco, which did not hesitate to deploy its troops and weapons in front of a group of
unarmed civilians who were peacefully demonstrating in the demilitarised zone of Guerguerat
in the south-east of the Territory. (…cont.)”

Press release, 19 Nov 2020

Western Sahara: Africa’s oldest conflict reignites

One of Africa’s oldest and least known conflicts has restarted.
By Tony Iltis
Green Left Weekly November 19, 2020, Issue 1289

Brahim Ghali, President of the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) and leader of the Western Saharan independence movement, the Polisario Front, issued a decree ending the ceasefire that has existed between pro-independence forces and Moroccan occupation forces since 1991 on November 13

GLW Article

The Continued Irresolution of the Conflict of Western Sahara

The Continued Irresolution of the Conflict of Western Sahara: The Right to Self-determination vs. Realpolitik

Dr Sidi M. Omadetermination vs. Realpolitik

Dr Sidi M. Omar, Frente POLISARIO Representative at the United Nations
Sahara Press Service, 27 June 2020

“Today peoples of many erstwhile colonies enjoy their freedom and independence, yet unfortunately colonialism is far from over. At present, there are 17 Non-Self-Governing Territories whose peoples have not yet exercised their right to self-determination and independence including Western Sahara, the last colony in Africa, on the UN list of Non-SelfGoverning Territories since 1963. …. (cont.)

Read article

Refugee Week 2020: Youtube Q&A on Western Sahara

To mark Refugee Week 2020, we came together for a virtual ‘Watch Party’ of the film “Sirocco: Winds of Resistance”, followed by a Q&A panel.

You can watch the Q&A panel discussion at the Youtube link here

Thank you to our special guests Kamal Fadel, Meredith Burgmann, and Randi Irwin for joining the AWSA community in the online webinar! And thank you to everyone who came along to celebrate the long and continuing struggle of the Saharawi people for freedom and independence! It was a fascinating discussion on the COVID-19 lock-down in the refugee camps, the current state-of-play in the international community regarding the long-promised referendum, and what Australia can do to support Saharawi independence.