This is not the first time Polisario Front separatists have defied recommendations and warnings despite the serious possible outcomes of such breaches.
Rabat – Polisario separatists have again defied the United Nations’ recent and serious warnings against breaching the status quo of the Guerguerat buffer zone, near the Moroccan-Mauritanian border.
Pro-Polisario websites have posted photos of Polisario members organizing a “camping trip” in El Guerguerat in defiance of the UN’s recent condemnations.
Some of the photos show Polisario members waving separatist flags while others depict them sitting in the road to intentionally block traffic in the region.
The moves are in defiance of the latest warning from the UN, condemning Polisario’s intentions and plans to block standard and commercial traffic in the area.
The actions come just days after UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres listed 53 violations by the Polisario Front, including 13 general violations and 40 violations against freedom of movement, in his annual report on Western Sahara.
In the report, the UN chief said that Polisario regularly denied patrols of the peacekeeping mission MINURSO from entering into most of their units, as well as to specific areas and sites in the second and fifth military regions.
The violations are against Military Agreement No. 1.
The UN also condemned Polisario’s relocation of several of its military units in Tifariti in December 2019 and in April and May 2020.
The violations also come after a clear warning from the UN against any breaches specifically in Guerguerat.
In September, Morocco’s state media quoted Farhan Haq, the deputy spokesperson of the UN chief, who called on Polisario to refrain from any obstruction aimed at hindering commercial and regular traffic in the region.
Speaking on behalf of Guterres he stressed that “no action shall be taken that might constitute an alteration of the status quo in the buffer zone.”
The UN deputy spokesperson recalled that such maneuvers escalate tension in Guerguerat and elsewhere in the buffer strip.
Read Also: How Polisario’s Provocations in Guerguerat Play in Morocco’s Favor
