POLISARIO Intensifies Diplomatic Campaign for Sahrawi Self-Determination and Natural Resource Rights
The POLISARIO Front and Sahrawi diplomatic representatives have launched an expanded international advocacy push across Europe, Australia, and United Nations multilateral forums to assert the right to self-determination and demand an immediate halt to the exploitation of Western Sahara’s natural resources. Addressing a panel titled “Western Sahara: Africa’s Last Colony” at the Ecosocialism 2026 conference in Brisbane, Australia, on September 13, 2026, POLISARIO Representative Mohamed Fadel Kamal emphasized that lasting peace in the region depends entirely on respecting the unalienable right of the Sahrawi people to freely determine their political future. According to reporting by Sahara Press Service (SPS), conference delegates screened documentary footage exposing systematic human rights violations and resolved to escalate public pressure against multinational entities involved in extractive operations within the occupied territory.
Concurrently, Sahrawi delegations in Europe are leveraging major civil society gatherings and international legal platforms to challenge Moroccan administrative control over the region. During the annual Manifiesta Festival in Ostend, Belgium, on September 12, 2026, the local POLISARIO representation joined solidarity organizations to highlight the plight of Sahrawi political prisoners and demand their immediate release. Parallel side events at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva—supported by diplomatic statements from South Africa—focused on environmental justice, human rights protections, and the legal framework surrounding resource governance in non-self-governing territories.
This diplomatic offensive reflects a firm organizational consensus codified during POLISARIO’s National Secretariat meeting on September 4, 2026. Movement leadership reiterated that statehood and complete sovereign jurisdiction over native resources remain non-negotiable prerequisites for any UN-led peace process. By rejecting proposals that seek to formalize Moroccan sovereignty, the POLISARIO Front continues to anchor Western Sahara’s status at the center of broader Pan-African and global decolonization debates.
