LAST week, a high-level Downing Street delegation delivered a letter urging Gordon Brown take immediate steps to resolve the crisis in Western Sahara, now in its 33rd year. The letter, from President Mohamed Abdelaziz, of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, asks that Britain act immediately to help end the continuing occupation of Western Sahara by Morocco, in defiance of UN Security Council resolutions and the judgment of the International Court of Justice.
The occupation has left 165,000 indigenous Sahrawi refugees to languish in camps in the Algerian desert for more than three decades.
The delegation will comprise MPs and MEPs, representatives of the Polisario Front (Western Sahara’s legitimate government) and several Ambassadors including Her Excellency Lindiew Mabuza, South African High Commissioner. It will be followed by a meeting in the House of Commons to launch a major new awareness-raising campaign.
The plight of Sahrawi people is a forgotten struggle. Our collective failure to address Morocco’s ongoing violation of countless UN Resolutions, to stop the illegal plundering of Western Sahara’s natural resources and to allow human rights abuses to be committed with impunity diminishes Britain, it diminishes the United Nations and it is an affront to all those with a belief in justice. We call on Gordon Brown to take a principled stand and take urgent steps to ensure that the UK takes a lead within the UN Security Council to fulfil its obligation to ensure the referendum on self-determination that was agreed under the terms of the UN ceasefire agreement in 1991.
Stefan Simanowitz (Free Western Sahara Network), NW3
Help raise money
I AM RNIB’s Community Fundraising Manager for Shropshire, Merseyside, Cheshire, Greater Manchester and Lancashire and I am looking for volunteers to join my existing team.
The Royal National Institute of Blind People/Action for Blind People are the main UK charities to provide help and support to people with serious sight loss. We have joined together to provide more services and support for Blind and Partially sighted people in the North West. We rely on voluntary contributions to keep our services running, which blind and partially sighted people in this area rely on.
Much of our funding comes from our famous “Sooty” boxes, which many of your readers may have seen in shops, restaurants and pubs throughout the area.
In order to collect, count and bank the money that is generated through “Sooty” boxes in Liverpool, I am desperately in need of volunteers to look after these boxes.
Any readers who feel they can offer help a few hours per month, to undertake this rewarding work, should contact me to discuss the flexible volunteering opportunities within Liverpool. There are also opportunities to raise further funds through individual events, public speaking and store collections.
I can be contacted on 01952 595005, or via e-mail at david.harper@rnib.org.uk
David Harper, Community Fundraising Manager
