Paris, 29 October 2026 (SPS) – A rally was held Wednesday outside the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs in Paris to defend the Sahrawi people's right to self-determination and independence.
Organised by the French Association of Friends of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (AARASD) and the Collective of Sahrawi Diaspora Associations in France, with the support of political parties, NGOs and solidarity organisations, the demonstration denounced attempts to undermine the Sahrawi people's inalienable right to determine their own future.
The participants criticised the US administration's position in the ongoing UN Security Council discussions on Western Sahara, with French government support, warning that the proposed approach risks imposing Morocco's autonomy plan under Moroccan sovereignty as the sole framework for resolving the conflict.
The demonstrators urged France to respect international law and reconsider its position on Western Sahara, the last territory on Africa's UN list of Non-Self-Governing Territories whose decolonisation remains incomplete. They also called for the implementation of European Court of Justice rulings on the territory's separate status and natural resources, and an end to economic activities conducted without the Sahrawi people's consent.
The rally further denounced human rights violations in the occupied Sahrawi territories, demanding access for journalists, international observers and human rights organisations, as well as the release of all Sahrawi political prisoners.
At the conclusion of the demonstration, AARASD and the Collective of Sahrawi Diaspora Associations submitted a letter to the French Foreign Ministry expressing deep concern over the positions being advanced in the Security Council discussions.
The letter warned that the proposed US resolution could prejudge the final status of Western Sahara by making Morocco's autonomy plan under Moroccan sovereignty the exclusive basis for a settlement. The organisations called on France, as a permanent member of the Security Council, to reject any provisions that predetermine the outcome of the political process or exclude other options.
They also urged the French government to intervene with the US administration to review the disputed provisions and reaffirm its commitment to a UN-led political process that respects the Sahrawi people's representation by the Polisario Front.
The organisations stressed that lasting peace cannot be imposed and reaffirmed the Sahrawi people's right to freely determine their future in accordance with international law.
The Polisario Front's representation in France had also recently called on French political parties, parliamentarians, elected officials, NGOs, trade unions and civil society organisations to press the French government and engage with US authorities in defence of the Sahrawi people's right to self-determination.
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