Polisario Urges International Community to Uphold Sahrawi Right to Self-Determination

CANBERRA – The Polisario Front’s representative to Australia and New Zealand, Kamal Fadel, has called on the international community to honor its legal responsibilities concerning the Western Sahara conflict, reiterating that the only legitimate resolution is to allow the Sahrawi people to freely and fully exercise their right to self-determination.

Writing in Independent Australia on Friday, Fadel underscored that the right to self-determination is a cornerstone of international law, as enshrined in the UN Charter and the two International Covenants on Human Rights. He recalled UN General Assembly Resolution 2105 of 1965, which reaffirms the legitimacy of colonized peoples’ struggles for independence and urges states to support such movements morally and materially.

Fadel highlighted that Western Sahara remains on the UN list of Non-Self-Governing Territories and referred to the 1975 advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice, which found no legal ties of sovereignty between Morocco and Western Sahara. He stressed that this invalidates Morocco’s claim to the territory.

Citing Resolution 34/37 of 1979, Fadel noted that the UN explicitly condemned Morocco’s continued occupation. Fadel concluded by stating that the Polisario Front firmly rejects any settlement excluding the option of independence, emphasizing that Western Sahara is a decolonization issue—not an internal Moroccan matter.