PSC/PR/COMM.(DLXXXVIII) Page 2 Sahara and the region, from 2 to 7 March 2016. Council strongly encourages the UN SecretaryGeneral to prevail in his efforts and reassures him of full support of the AU; 6. Condemns strongly the decision by Morocco to expel 84 international civil servants, including AU personnel, from the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) and for denying the visit of UN Secretary-General to Rabat, and to Laayoune, capital city of occupied Western Sahara and MINURSO’s Headquarters, which constitutes a very dangerous precedent in that it challenges and undermines the mandate of the UN Security Council in maintaining international peace and security. In this regard, Council emphasizes that the presence and operation of MINURSO in Western Sahara is pursuant to UN Security Council resolution 690 of 29 April 1991. Furthermore, Council stresses that the decision by Morocco further complicates the current deadlock in the peace process, rekindle tensions in Western Sahara, and threaten regional security at a time when the international community is mobilizing to find a solution to the conflict in Western Sahara in accordance with international legality, including relevant OAU/AU and UN Security Council resolutions; 7. Calls on the UN Security Council to fully assume its responsibility in the matter, by acting under Chapter VII, to demand Morocco to annul its decision to expel MINURSO personnel. Furthermore, Council urges the UN Security Council to reaffirm the full mandate of MINURSO, including the organization of Referendum for self-determination of the people of Western Sahara and stresses the need for the international community as a whole, to continue to provide support to the ongoing efforts by UN Secretary-General, Ban-Ki Moon, and his Personal Envoy, Christopher W. S. Ross, towards materializing the solution to the conflict in accordance with international legality; 8. Looks forward to the renewal of the mandate of MINURSO at the expiration of its current mandate, on 30 April 2016, as decided by the Security Council in resolution 2218 (2015) of 28 April 2015. Council urges the UN Security Council to take the necessary steps to provide MINURSO with a human rights mandate, taking into account the need to ensure sustained, independent and impartial monitoring of human rights in both the Territory and the refugee camps. In this respect, Council requests the High Commissioner for Human Rights to take appropriate steps in this respect. Council further reiterates its request to the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) to undertake, as soon as possible, a mission to Western Sahara and to the refugee camps in Tindouf, to assess the human rights situation and make recommendations to Council. In this regard, Council urges the Government of Morocco to extend full cooperation to the ACHPR, in particular, by allowing it to access the Territory; 9. Notes with deep concern the acute humanitarian situation in which the people of Western Sahara are living, the violation of human rights and the continuous illegal exploitation of the territory’s natural resources, regardless of the relevant multiple opinions and decisions of the AU, as well as of international and regional organizations, on the matter;