Referendum In Western Sahara

EDM number 1094 in 1992-93, proposed by Mike Watson on 15/12/1992.

That this House welcomes the recent visit to the United Kingdom of His Excellency President Mohamed Abdelaziz of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic; notes the continuing illegal colonial occupation of the Western Sahara by the Kingdom of Morocco and the plan for a free and fair referendum on the future of the Western Sahara originally intended to take place in January 1992 under the auspices of the United Nations Security Council; notes the 178 known breaches of the UN-sponsored cease-fire by forces of the Kingdom of Morocco; further notes the events in Assa (Southern Morocco) and Smara and El Ayoun (Western Sahara) where Sahrawi men and women held peaceful demonstrations between 27th September and 15th October 1992 asserting their right to self-determination; deplores the brutal action of the Moroccan security forces in violently putting down the demonstrations and injuring, arresting and abducting large numbers of people; believes that the United Nations plan should be implemented without any further undue delay and that the people of the Western Sahara should have the right to exercise a free vote on the future of their country.

This motion has been signed by a total of 47 MPs.