Date:  19 July 2007

Tanya Plibersek, Federal Member for Sydney, confirmed the support of Australian Labor’s National Conference and the Federal Parliamentary Party for Western Sahara’s right to self-determination.

Speaking in support of Malainin Lakhal, the Secretary General of the Saharawi Journalists’ and Writers’ Union, at a recent event in Sydney, she deplored Morocco’s ongoing refusal to allow a UN sponsored referendum on self-determination to take place in the occupied territory, expressing her deep concern for violations of the human rights of the Saharawi people.

Lakhal is on a speaking tour of Australia and New Zealand throughout June and July 2007 calling for self-determination for the Saharawi and raising awareness about human rights abuses in Western Sahara.

Moroccco annexed Western Sahara in 1975. Through the Polisario Front, Saharawis fought the Moroccans until a ceasefire in 1991, which was called in preparation for a UN referendum on self-determination. Yet Morocco has refused to allow a referendum to take place and the UN has been unable to get its resolutions implemented. Approximately 165,000 Saharawis now live in refugee camps in Tindouf in southern Algeria.

The Saharawi government in exile – the SADR - is recognized by over 80 countries worldwide and is a member of the African Union. SADR is democratically elected and secular and has women ministers and parliamentarians.