madam president the frozen conflict over western sahara is destabilising the surrounding region
morocco's intransigence continues to deny justice to the people of western sahara who have been waiting for a referendum on independence for the past twenty years
while i do accept that morocco is an important ally of the west in the fight against terrorism it is deeply regrettable that morocco will not deliver on its stated commitments to the terms of the un settlement plan
we should now in the light of the report of violence against the people of western sahara give the un mission there a mandate to monitor the human rights of the sahrawi people
but efforts to develop this capacity have been sadly and consistently blocked by france
this is almost unique among all un missions it is the only one without a human rights mandate
morocco and the polisario front both need to understand what is expected of them in terms of standards by the international community
we do have a lot of leverage over morocco here in the eu particularly over fishing rights and aid
hopefully the impending referendum scheduled for south sudan which will create a new sovereign state in the south will provide fresh motivation for all the parties involved to seek a final resolution to this long-standing dispute over western sahara a territory and a people which in my mind deserve a peaceful and prosperous future
