International Conference on Friday in New York: “Morocco’s Occupation of Western Sahara as a Threat to Regional and International Peace and Security”
The U.S.-based Global Monitoring Center will host tomorrow, Friday, in New York, an international conference under the theme “Morocco’s Occupation of Western Sahara as a Threat to Regional and International Peace and Security”, with the participation of experts, researchers, and representatives of diplomatic missions accredited to the United Nations.
The event, held both in person and via Zoom, will feature prominent scholars and experts, including Jacob Mundy, Associate Professor of Peace and Conflict Studies at Colgate University in New York specializing in conflicts in North Africa and the Sahel; Katlyn Thomas, international law attorney and former MINURSO legal officer; Jeffery Smith, Professor of Law at the University of Victoria in Canada and former UN legal counsel in Timor-Leste; as well as Sidi Mohamed Omar, Frente POLISARIO Representative to the United Nations and Coordinator with MINURSO. Discussions will address the multifaceted dangers posed by the continuation of Morocco’s occupation.
Speaking to APS, Sidi Mohamed Omar explained that this international conference aims to shed light on the risks of prolonging the Western Sahara conflict without enabling the Sahrawi people to exercise their right to self-determination. He recalled that “on October 31 of this year, it will be 50 years since Morocco’s expansionist regime began its invasion and military occupation of Western Sahara, in blatant violation of the UN Charter and resolutions obliging states to refrain from any coercive act that deprives peoples of their right to self-determination, freedom, and independence.” He further stressed that since then, “the Moroccan occupying power has waged a systematic war of extermination against the Sahrawis, pursued scorched-earth policies, plundered natural resources, and undermined the Sahrawi people’s right to sovereignty and independence.”
The Sahrawi diplomat underlined that this conference represents “an important milestone, not only from an academic perspective but also as a reflection of growing awareness that the continued Moroccan military occupation of Western Sahara constitutes the real threat to peace and security in our region, with grave implications for international peace and security.” He added that over the past five decades, it has become clear that Morocco’s expansionist regime is “the true danger to regional stability—not only through its occupation of Western Sahara but also through its aggressive policies aimed at destabilizing its neighbors, fostering terrorism and organized transnational crime, flooding the region with drugs, and forging perilous alliances that fuel tension and instability.”
It is worth recalling that the Global Monitoring Center is a U.S.-based organization dedicated to the promotion of peace, the protection of human rights, and support for peoples resisting occupation in defense of their right to self-determination.
