Declaration by the National Executive of the BNG on Western Sahara

Following the decision adopted by the Spanish Government to accept Morocco’s position involving the refusal to recognise the right of the Sahrawi people to self-determination, the Galizan Nationalist Bloc (BNG) hereby issues the following statement:

• The decision adopted by the Spanish Government is a betrayal of the Sahrawi people, bowing to the interests of Morocco and flying in the face of all of the accords reached to date by the international bodies, which have unanimously declared their support for the right of the Sahrawi people to exercise its right to self-determination via a referendum of its people;
• The decision adopted by the Spanish Government effectively legitimises the ongoing Moroccan occupation as well as the repression, the human rights’ violations and the plunder of the natural resources located within Sahrawi territory. It also stands to show how the Spanish Government’s foreign policy is clearly aligned with the positions of the United States and Israel, two states renowned for their imperialist agenda and their aggression towards other peoples, whilst at the same time supporting anti-democratic regimes such as the Moroccan monarchy;
• This decision only serves to further heighten the existing tensions in the region following the Moroccan provocation carried out in November 2020 that led to a renewal of the armed conflict between the Sahrawi and Moroccan armies;
• This decision involves an assumption of responsibility, thereby effectively barring the Spanish State from playing a role in the process of decolonisation in line with the Charter of the United Nations and the agreements concerning the decolonisation of the last remaining colony on the African continent;
• This decision amounts to nothing more than barefaced cynicism because, while demanding sovereignty for Ukraine in the face of the Russian invasion, they deny the same right to Western Sahara and the Sahrawi people by placing economic and geostrategic interests above the rights of the peoples and respect for human rights.

The BNG calls upon the Spanish Government to rectify its position and to staunchly uphold the right of the Sahrawi people to exercise its right to self-determination via a referendum.

The BNG once again expresses its steadfast support for the Sahrawi people and its sole legitimate representative, the Polisario Front, in its fight against the military occupation and to fully exercise its right to self-determination and independence.

Original text in Galizan available here.