El Aaiun (Occupied Territories), 29 July 2026 (SPS) – Sahrawi civil society organizations in the occupied territories have condemned the visit of the United States Ambassador to Morocco, Richard Duke Buchan III, to the occupied city of El Aaiun, describing it as a serious violation of the international legal status of Western Sahara, a direct provocation against the Sahrawi people, and an unacceptable attempt to legitimize the Moroccan occupation and impose a fait accompli.
In a statement received by Sahara Press Service (SPS), the civil society organizations stressed that the visit cannot be regarded as a routine diplomatic activity but rather constitutes a clear political endorsement of the Moroccan occupation and encouragement of its attempts to consolidate its illegal annexation of the Territory.
The statement reaffirmed that Western Sahara remains a Non-Self-Governing Territory on the United Nations agenda pending the completion of the decolonization process, emphasizing that no official visit, agreement or development project can alter the Territory's international legal status or undermine the Sahrawi people's inalienable right to self-determination and independence.
The organizations further argued that the visit runs counter to the United Nations-led peace process aimed at achieving a just and lasting solution to the conflict, warning that such unilateral actions undermine confidence in any role the United States could play in supporting the UN settlement efforts and risk further escalating tensions.
The statement strongly condemned the U.S. ambassador's visit to occupied El Aaiun and called on the U.S. administration to halt all unilateral measures that seek to entrench Morocco's occupation. It also urged Washington to refrain from organising visits, implementing projects or concluding agreements involving Western Sahara without the consent of the Sahrawi people and their legitimate representative, the Polisario Front.
The civil society organizations also called on the United Nations, its Secretary-General, the Security Council and the Personal Envoy for Western Sahara to take a clear position regarding the visit and all attempts aimed at altering the Territory's legal status, while reaffirming the Sahrawi people's right to self-determination.
Furthermore, the statement appealed to the African Union, the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights, the European Union and its Member States not to engage in any actions or activities that would confer legitimacy on Morocco's occupation or facilitate the exploitation of Western Sahara's natural resources without the consent of the Sahrawi people.
The organizations likewise urged international human rights bodies, particularly Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, to denounce what they described as the political cover provided by such visits for Morocco's human rights violations, and to intensify efforts to protect Sahrawi human rights defenders and secure the release of all Sahrawi political prisoners.
Finally, the statement called on foreign embassies and diplomatic missions accredited to Morocco to refrain from participating in visits or activities in the occupied territories of Western Sahara that serve Moroccan propaganda or contribute to distorting the Territory's legal status. It also appealed to the Sahrawi Republic and the Polisario Front to formally condemn the ambassador's visit.
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