Washington Firmly Supports Sahrawis’ Right To Self-Determination And Upsets Morocco

The United States Administration has strongly supported the “path of negotiations spearheaded by the United Nations in the Western Sahara issue.” Washington has said it hopes “the path will achieve a just and lasting political solution acceptable to both sides that will guarantee the right to self-determination for the people of Western Sahara”.
A major development in the Western Sahara conflict, which lasted more than four decades, was expressed by the US administration in a statement issued by its embassy in Algeria, in the wake of the recent visit of its Ambassador posted in Algiers, His Excellency Mr. John Desrocher to the Sahrawi refugee camps in Tindouf after the latter was purportedly deemed rather close to the Moroccan “lobby”.
Washington pointed, in its final statement, to the eligibility of the Sahrawi people to self-determination, and it is known that the Sahrawis have been always in favor of a referendum that will terminate the long-running Moroccan occupation of their lands.
The Trump administration ruled out by the same token the so-called “sovereignty” of Morocco on the territory, as it employed the term “Western Sahara” in its statement.
It also referred to a mutually acceptable course of negotiations between the two parties at issue namely the Polisario Front as the legitimate representative of the Sahrawi people and the Moroccan government.
This move comes days after UN Secretary-General’s envoy for Western Sahara, Mr. Horst Koehler met in Washington with Assistant Secretary of State for the Middle East Mr. David Satterfield, with whom he discussed the prospects for settling the lingering conflict in Western Sahara.
Washington has made no secret of its preoccupation at the stalemate of the peace process, warning in April 2017 immediately after the vote on the extension of the mandate of the UN mission in charge of organizing a referendum on self-determination in Western Sahara (MINURSO) that it “will closely monitor progress on the ground”.
The Minurso prompted the Security Council to focus its discussion on “very special operational details” instead of paying attention to its real task of organizing a referendum on self-determination.
The other development of US administration positions, was the latest appointment by President Donald Trump, of John Bolton as US national security adviser who is well apprised of the file.
In a related context, the US Embassy said that the US government is keen to cooperate with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and other humanitarian partners in their efforts to meet the needs of Sahrawi refugees.
Since last year, the US has allocated more than $ 8.5 million of US humanitarian assistance meant to relieve the plight of Sahrawi refugees.