Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will make representations to the UN Security Council to insist on unfettered media and humanitarian NGO access to the occupied territory of Western Sahara.

The UK regards the status of Western Sahara as undetermined. The UK strongly supported UN Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 2548 on 30 October 2020, which renewed the mandate of the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) for 12 months. In doing so, we continue to stress the importance of improving the human rights situation in Western Sahara and the Tindouf camps, and encourage the parties to work with the international community to develop and implement independent and credible measures to ensure full respect for human rights, bearing in mind their relevant obligations under international law.