Western Sahara Resource Watch

Total refuses further talks on Saharawis

Still no reply on future options nor stakeholder consultation. Total respond that would be politics.

Published 29 May 2013

The mail below was sent from Total to WSRW on 14 May 2013. This is Total's response to our concerns over the company not seeking the consent from the Saharawis, and questions about what their future plans in Western Sahara are.

See further correspondence between WSRW and Total here.

Thank you for your letter dated April 11th and for your acknowledgement that you took good note of our statement posted on “Business and Human rights” on December 14th, 2012.

As far as other questions are concerned, they exceed our domain: Total, as an Energy Company, does not deem itself legitimate to have views on political or diplomatic subjects that belong to the United Nations and that are still being debated within the relevant international institutions.

On the contrary, our position is to abide by the existing international legal framework; while we exert our due diligence to have the best assessment of the environment of our activities, it is not within our scope nor competences to anticipate, frame or dictate which solutions should eventually be chosen.

You will therefore understand my refraining from further answering your questions.

Yours, sincerely.

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