Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to help ensure that MINURSO systematically monitor human rights violations in the occupied territories of the Western Sahara and that those reports are given directly to the UN Security Council.

The UK has consistently supported references to human rights in the UN Security Council resolutions setting the mandate for the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO)'s activities. In particular, we have supported language encouraging the parties to continue their efforts to enhance the promotion and protection of human rights in Western Sahara and the Tindouf refugee camps.