Bangladesh, Brunei, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines Oceania: Australia, New Zealand, Tonga, Samoa, Niue, Palau, Micronesia, Marshall Islands Others: Abkhazia, Artsakh, Republic of China (Taiwan), Kosovo, Somaliland, Transnistria Sovereign Military Order of Malta Positions of international organizations The SADR is also a member of the Asian-African Strategic Partnership, formed at the 2005 Asian-African Conference, over Moroccan objections to SADR participation. In 2006, the SADR participated in a conference of the Permanent Conference of Political Parties of the Latin American and the Caribbean. African Union On 22 February 1982, the SADR secured membership in the Organisation of African Unity. In 1984, Morocco withdrew from the AU's predecessor, the Organization of African Unity (OAU), in protest of the group's recognition of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR). The African Union (formerly the OAU) has given the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic full recognition, and accepted it as a member state (which has led Morocco to leave the union.). Mohamed Abdelaziz, president of the SADR, has been vicepresident of the OUA in 1985, and of the AU in 2002. In 2016, King Mohammed VI of Morocco declared his country's intention to become a member of the African union. On the same day, twenty eight African countries or about 52% of the 54 UN recognized member states of the African Union signed a petition to expel the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic from the African Union. At the same time, AU Commission Chairwoman Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma reaffirmed the AU's support for Western Sahara's independence. European Union The European Union supports the right of self-determination of the Sahrawi people (the MINURSO UN-sponsored referendum), but does not recognize the Polisario Front. Over practical issues such as fishing in the EEZ the EU deals with Morocco as the country currently exercising "jurisdiction, but not sovereignty" over the Western Sahara territory. In addition, members of the EFTA trade bloc have made statements excluding the Western Sahara from the Moroccan-EFTA free trade agreement. In December 2016, the European Court of Justice reaffirmed in Council v Front populaire pour la libération de la saguia-el-hamra et du rio de oro (Front Polisario) that Morocco has no basis for sovereignty over Western Sahara and that trade deals with Morocco cannot apply to the occupied territory. United Nations Since 1966, the United Nations request for the celebration of a referendum for enabling the "indigenous population" to exercise freely their right to self-determination. Since 1979, the United Nations has