Saint Lucia reiterated, Thursday before the UN C24, its “total support” for the Moroccan autonomy initiative, deeming that it constitutes “the only serious and realistic solution” to the regional dispute over the Sahara. Speaking at a C24 regional seminar held in Saint John, Dominica, the representative of Saint Lucia welcomed the momentum created in the political process through the holding of two round tables in Geneva with the participation of Morocco, Algeria, Mauritania and the “polisario”.
Saint Lucia supports this round table process and joins the Security Council in welcoming the determination of the four participants to remain engaged throughout this process, in a spirit of realism and compromise, in order to ensure a favorable outcome, she said.
“I would also like to laud Morocco’s efforts, aimed at developing the Sahara, improving the living conditions of its inhabitants and allowing them to benefit from the resources of the region, as well as the widely accessible vaccination campaign against COVID-19”, added Saint Lucia’s delegate to this UN seminar.
In addition to the recent recognition by the United States of America of the Moroccan sovereignty over the Sahara, a large number of countries have opened consulates in the cities of Laâyoune and Dakhla, thus reaffirming the territorial integrity of Morocco and highlighting the economic and social development opportunities of the region for the benefit of its inhabitants, she said.
“The progress made by the government of Morocco on the ground, in particular in the promotion of human rights and democracy, is very commendable and inspiring,” she added. She insisted that “it is high time to listen to all the calls by the Security Council, since 2011, to allow the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to conduct a census of populations in Tindouf camps whose fundamental human rights are violated.”
