Invited to speak at the C24 regional seminar for the Caribbean, held in Dominica, as democratically elected representative of the Moroccan Sahara, Bahiya said that thanks to the New Development Model of the Southern Provinces, launched by HM King Mohammed VI, the latter are called upon to become a regional economic hub, a transit point between the North and the South of the Kingdom of Morocco to the rest of the continent and a center of impetus for South-South cooperation in the region.
"The development dynamic experienced by the Moroccan Sahara region is irreversible", she said, explaining that this dynamic aims to "promote the Sahara region as a regional economic hub".
"This development model, implemented for six years, is the culmination of a broad consultation with the populations of the regions of the Moroccan Sahara and their representatives, including myself. It aims to double global local production and to generate 120,000 jobs," Bahiya said.
The population of the Sahara region thus actively participates in the implementation of policies for the management and development of the region's resources, which exclusively benefit the local populations, through their democratically elected representatives, she said.
Referring to the efforts to fight the Covid-19 pandemic, the vice-president of the Dakhla-Oued Eddahab region noted that the Moroccan Sahara has benefited from the Kingdom's "exemplary efforts" to fight the spread of Covid-19, notably through prevention and early detection of the virus as well as social distancing measures and a very large vaccination campaign, which has now reached children aged 13.
"In recognition of the tremendous economic and social development achieved in the Sahara, as well as in confirmation of the recognition of the Moroccanness of the Sahara, 23 countries in Africa, the Arab world, America and the Caribbean, have opened consulates general in the cities of LaĆ¢youne and Dakhla," Bahiya noted, adding that other countries have expressed their willingness to open their consulates in the Sahara region in the near future.
She also underlined that "the American decision, last December, to recognize the sovereignty of the Kingdom over the Sahara meets our aspirations as Moroccan Saharawi citizens because it is a recognition of our immemorial belonging to the Moroccan nation. We welcome and encourage the United States' decision to increase its investment in the region."
Regarding the settlement of this regional dispute, Bahiya said there will be no other solution than the autonomy initiative. "Allow me to proclaim it loud and clear, we the population of the Moroccan Sahara are proud of our Moroccanness and there will be no solution to this regional dispute other than the Autonomy Initiative within the framework of the national sovereignty and territorial integrity of Morocco", she insisted.
"I would like to affirm before this Committee that the population of the Moroccan Sahara has fully enjoyed their right to self-determination thanks to the recovery by Morocco of its Sahara through the Madrid Agreement in 1975", she declared, recalling that "the question of the Moroccan Sahara is on the agenda of the Security Council, with the aim of reaching a realistic, pragmatic, and lasting political solution of compromise to this regional dispute".
"As elected representatives of the Moroccan Sahara, we are proud and honored by the action taken by the Moroccan authorities to ensure, once and for all, the free movement of people and goods at the Guergarate border post between Morocco and Mauritania after its blockade by the armed militias of the Polisario for more than three weeks", said the vice-president of the Dakhla-Oued Eddahab region, adding that this peaceful action was supported by a very large number of UN Member States and regional organizations.
She stated before the Committee that "contrary to the fallacious campaign regarding a so-called armed conflict in the Sahara, I can assure you as a person who lives there permanently, that it is a pure and baseless lie that aim to serve a political agenda and to deceive the international community. The MINURSO is present on the ground and clearly attests and confirms on a daily basis that there is no armed conflict."
In addition, the elected representative of the Moroccan Sahara said that "in the Sahara region, we fully enjoy our civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights and our Hassani culture, which is an integral part of the Moroccan identity."
She also took this opportunity to discuss the disastrous humanitarian situation in the Tindouf camps, recalling that the host country continues to refuse the fundamental right of the population in these camps to be registered by the UNHCR.
"I urge the international community to put an end to this situation to allow the population of the camps to return to their homeland, Morocco, and to enjoy all of their rights and to contribute to the development dynamic of the Moroccan Sahara", she said.