"The Saharawi coordination group asks for its share from the phosphates of Phosboucraa", reads the banner that the demonstrators brought to OCP. The banner also refers to OCP's promise of 5,900 new jobs in Morocco proper and in the occupied parts of Western Sahara.

In the fall of last year, OCP announced it would employ 500 people in Phosboucraa. But the new positions come with high qualification criteria that are not attainable for the majority of Saharawis who due to their socio-economic marginalisation have not had the chance of higher education. As a result, Saharawi protests intensified.

For months, Western Sahara's capital city El Aaiun has been the scene for daily protests by Saharawis of all walks of life. They are fed up with Morocco's policy of marginalising Saharawis while Moroccan settlers get jobs created on the back of Morocco's illegal exploitation of the Saharawi people's occupied homeland.

Grievances are particularly targeted agains the Moroccan state-owned phosphate company OCP (Office Chérifien des Phosphates), which took over the management of Western Sahara's phosphate plant (Phosboucraa) after Morocco's invasion of the territory in 1975. Saharawis who were working in the mines under Spanish colonial rule, have over time been largely replaced by Moroccans.

Just one week ago, a group of 19 young men started a hunger strike in demand of the Saharawis' right to work.

The below photos are from the protest that took place inside the OCP premises in Casablanca. The quality of the pics is quite poor - they are the first available footage of the protest. WSRW will update this section as more material reaches us.