UN General Assembly
1974

182. Decolonization has always held a high place in the debates of the Assembly, and the Moroccan delegation has always considered it to be a question of high priority. It could not have been otherwise for a country which not only has known colonization under its usual form, of occupation by a single foreign Power, but which has also been the victim not only of a division but a real carving up by colonialism: one part was under the protectorate of France; one so-called international zone, Tangier, was under the administration of 13 Powers; another part was under the protectorate of Spain, including a northern zone and a southern zone—Tarfaya, Sakiet El Hamra and Rio de Oro -as well as the enclaves, the zones of Ifni and the cities of Ceuta and Melilla. Although important parts of our national territory have been liberated, it is nevertheless true that vast areas of our country are still occupied by a European colonial Power, namely Spain.