§ 6. Mr. Jeremy Corbyn (Islington, North)When he expects the UN to be able to conduct a referendum on the future of the western Sahara. [61385]
§ The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Mr. Derek Fatchett)The UN has proposed to Morocco and the Polisario that a referendum should take place in December 1999. We hope that that deadline can be met.
§ Mr. CorbynDoes the Minister share my disappointment that the Secretary-General of the United Nations should have proposed yet another delay, for a further year, to the referendum? Is not the real reason for that delay Morocco's obstruction of the process of registering refugees living in the camps and other people living in the region? Is not the UN being seriously obstructed in its desire to hold the referendum, which should have been held many years ago?
Is there anything my hon. Friend can do to ensure that MINURSO—the United Nations mission for the referendum in Western Sahara—carries on and is fully funded, and that the refugee camps are fully supported and funded? Above all, will he do what he can to ensure that the date of the referendum—currently December 1999—is significantly brought forward? If it is not, the UN will be brought into disrepute. I fear that Morocco will try to delay the referendum beyond that date and that the people of the western Sahara will be denied the opportunity to decide their own future.
§ Mr. FatchettIt is important that the referendum should take place and that it should take place as early as possible. I share my hon. Friend's concern about the further delay. He is right to say that the referendum must be fair and be seen to be fair, and that it must have the confidence of all the parties. He is also right to conclude that the best way forward for the western Sahara is for the referendum to take place, because that is the only way in which we shall be able to determine the feelings and aspirations of the local people.