New York (United Nations), June 21, 2026 (SPS) – During the work of the Committee on Decolonization (Committee of 24), in New York, the Association of Human Rights Defenders in Western Sahara (CODESA) highlighted the serious violations of human rights in occupied Western Sahara.
In his intervention on behalf of the organization, Sahrawi human rights activist, Tayeb Malikhaf, commented on the Moroccan occupation’s seizure of Sahrawi lands, the destruction of civilian homes, and their transfer to foreign companies and investors as part of a policy aimed at perpetuating the colonial fait accompli and internationalizing the occupation.
The spokesman explained that the Moroccan occupation has been carrying out, for years, continuous operations to confiscate lands owned or exploited by Sahrawis, whether in rural areas or along the Atlantic coast of the region, noting that this policy is accompanied by repeated demolitions of the homes and property of Sahrawi civilians and depriving them of their right to benefit from their traditional lands and sources of livelihood.
He pointed out that these vast areas are being given to foreigners without the consent of the Sahrawi people and without consulting them, even though they have permanent sovereignty over their land and natural resources, indicating that this policy cannot be separated from the reality of the existing occupation in Western Sahara, because it aims to bring about profound demographic, economic and structural changes within the region, and to create external economic interests linked to the continuation of the occupation.
The speaker also stopped at the mines planted by the Moroccan occupation, which are still claiming the lives of Sahrawi civilians or causing them permanent disabilities, citing the incident that occurred last May, in the Korariat area on the outskirts of the city of Zag, where a landmine exploded among members of a Sahrawi family, leading to the death of a four-year-old girl and a young man, in an incident that embodies the continuing dangers that Sahrawi families face in their movement and exploitation of their traditional lands.
CODESA called on the Committee of 24 to condemn the seizures of Sahrawi lands and the destruction of the homes and property of Sahrawi civilians and to call on all foreign countries and companies to refrain from investing in or benefiting from lands located in Western Sahara without the consent of the Sahrawi people.
The Sahrawi Organization also called on the United Nations to send independent missions to monitor violations related to land and real estate ownership in the region and to emphasize that any disposal of lands, resources or property within Western Sahara cannot be legitimate unless it is done with the approval of the Sahrawi people as they are the sovereign holders of the region.
In conclusion, the same organization expressed its hope that the United Nations would assume its legal and moral responsibility to protect the lands and rights of the Sahrawi people until the decolonization process is completed and they are enabled to exercise their inalienable right to self-determination and independence. (SPA)
