Burkina Faso inaugurates consulate in Dakhla

Burkina Faso becomes fifth African country to have consular representation in Morocco’s southwestern city in 2020.

DAKHLA - Burkina Faso inaugurated Friday its consulate in Dakhla, becoming the fifth African country to have a consular representation in Morocco’s southwestern city in 2020.

The inauguration ceremony of the consulate was co-chaired by Morocco’s Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita and his Burkinabe counterpart Alpha Barry. 

Gambia, Guinea, Djibouti and Liberia have already opened their consulates in Dakhla, consolidating their support for Morocco’s autonomy plan in Western Sahara.

The United Nations Security Council dealt in April a blow to Algeria’s discontent about the opening of consulates by several African states in the disputed Western Sahara territory, according to diplomatic sources with the UN.

The Security Council considered that the consulates were acts of sovereignty in accordance with international law and strictly within the framework of bilateral relations between Morocco and its African partners, said the sources.

Morocco annexed Western Sahara in 1975 and maintains it is an inte­gral part of the kingdom. Algerian-backed Polisario Front separatists began an armed conflict with Mo­rocco for an independent state that lasted until the United Nations bro­kered a ceasefire in 1991.

Rabat has proposed a form of autonomy under Moroccan sover­eignty for the territory. The proposal was rejected by the Polisario Front, which insists on the right of the Sah­rawi people to self-determination in a UN-monitored vote.