Paris, France – A press conference addressing the Western Sahara issue was recently held in Paris, ahead of the 49th conference of the European Coordination of Solidarity with the Sahrawi People.
The conference featured prominent figures, including Sahrawi Prime Minister Bachraya Hamoudi Beyoun, alongside Pierre Galand, head of the European Coordination of Solidarity with the Sahrawi People, and Régine Villemont, President of the French Association of Friendship with the Sahrawi People. Abi Bachraya, Advisor to the Sahrawi Republic’s Presidency on Natural Resources and related Legal Issues, also participated. A significant number of French journalists and international media correspondents were in attendance.
Pierre Galand opened the conference with a presentation on the latest developments in the decolonization process of Western Sahara, highlighting the role of the solidarity movement at this critical juncture. Régine Villemont welcomed the attendees, emphasizing the significance of holding the conference in Paris, given the French government’s perceived ambiguous stance on the issue.
Prime Minister Beyoun expressed gratitude for the support provided by the French Association of Friendship and the European Coordination to the Sahrawi cause and the struggle of the Sahrawi people. He noted that choosing France as the venue for the 49th conference was a deliberate move to highlight the contradiction between France’s official rhetoric regarding democracy, freedom, and the rule of law, and its actions in Western Sahara.
Beyoun asserted that France’s support for the Moroccan occupation, its encouragement of Morocco’s continued occupation of Western Sahara, and its alleged disregard for human rights, along with the exploitation of the Sahrawi people’s natural resources, stand in stark contrast to its stated values, despite the European Court of Justice ruling of October 4, 2024. He further claimed that France and Spain had encouraged the European Commission to disregard the ruling and pursue a new agreement with Morocco that includes the natural resources of Western Sahara.
Beyoun concluded by stating that the Sahrawi people and the international community believe that without French political, military, diplomatic, and economic support, Morocco would not be able to sustain its occupation of Western Sahara, and the suffering of the Sahrawi people would not have persisted for over half a century.
