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Wednesday 26 June 2019

Comoros Expresses ‘Full’ Support to Moroccan Autonomy Initiative

Vocal synthesis
Comoros Expresses ‘Full’ Support to Moroccan Autonomy Initiative

The Comoros expressed on Tuesday at a meeting of the United Nations Committee of 24 in New York, its full support to the Moroccan autonomy initiative, which paves the way to "a positive settlement" of the Sahara issue in accordance with international law and the resolutions of the General Assembly and the Security Council.

"We wish to reaffirm our full support to the initiative of the Kingdom of Morocco, whose objective is to grant autonomy to this region, through the organization of successful local democratic elections, as well as through economic and social development, in order to ensure a better life and better living conditions to the Sahara populations," the representative of the Comoros pointed out at this meeting.

The fact that the Moroccan autonomy initiative "meets international standards for devolution of power to local populations underlines the voluntarily inclusive aspect of the process," he noted.
In this regard, he welcomed the convening of the two round tables in Geneva with the participation of Algeria, Morocco, Mauritania and the "Polisario" in order to "find a rapid political solution, in accordance with the resolutions 2414 and 2440 of the Security Council".

The Comoros, he said, also welcomed the commitment of the four parties to meet for a third round table, in the same format, as stated in resolution 2468, which "underlines the need to move towards a realistic, pragmatic, sustainable and compromise-based solution to the Sahara issue".

The diplomat insisted on the need to respect human rights in the Tindouf camps, calling for the census of the population living in these camps.

"This implies that the Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees can act effectively and freely, within the framework of its mandate, in favor of vulnerable populations that are victims of this conflict that has lasted too long," he said.

In this regard, he shed light on "the worrying living conditions in the Tindouf camps" and the absence of any census of their number, in violation of international humanitarian law.

The representative of Comoros welcomed the participation, for the second year in a row, of Ms. Ghalla Bahyia and Mr. Mhamed Abba, Deputy-Presidents of the two regions of the Moroccan Sahara, in the session of the Committee of 24.

MAP 26 June 2019