By Dare Akogun
Anti-colonialism stakeholders have demanded that French President Emmanuel Macron halt the illegal actions of the French government, emphasizing the importance of sending UNESCO missions to affected regions to assess cultural and religious heritage.
They also call on the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) to study the environment, economy, human rights, and indigenous populations in colonial territories.
In a Zoom interview with Sobi FM, BIG Executive Director Abbas Abbasov, the call was the highlight at during the “Decolonization: Awakening of the Renaissance” international conference held in Istanbul, Turkey, organized by the Baku Initiative Group (BIG), highlighted the group’s primary objective of amplifying the voices of those impacted by colonialism.
He emphasized their success in informing the global community about the consequences of French colonial policies.
According to him “at the Baku Initiative Group, we have successfully achieved this goal, enabling those impacted by colonialism to express their concerns through the established platforms.
“We have managed to inform the world community about the developments taking place in these regions, as well as the heavy consequences of the French colonial policy,” he said.
Abbasov said participants at the conference addressed an open letter to French President Emmanuel Macron, outlining various crimes committed by France in colonial territories.
These include land occupation, economic hindrances, environmental pollution, forced emigration, and ongoing illegal resettlement, among others.
He said the conference brought together a total of 50 representatives from 13 countries and 5 international organizations, the vast majority of which represent the overseas territories that are still under French colonial rule such as New Caledonia, French Polynesia, French Guiana, Martinique, Guadeloupe, Wallis and Futuna, Corsica, as well as the Union of the Channel Islands (France still occupies the island of Mayotte, which is a territory of the Union of Channel Islands).
The Baku Initiative Group was established by participants of the round table on “Towards the complete elimination of colonialism” held in Baku on July 6, 2023, as part of the ministerial meeting of the Coordinating Bureau of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) chaired by the Republic of Azerbaijan.
