"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.
Morocco allocates vast tracts of occupied Western Sahara
Moroccan budget documents released in late October reveal that the kingdom allocated tens of thousands of hectares of land in occupied Western Sahara to investment projects.
Guterres reminds Morocco: Self-determination still stands
In one of his final statements as UN Secretary-General, António Guterres has made an unequivocal point: the end of MINURSO does not extinguish the inalienable right of the Saharawi people to self-determination. It is a reminder that Morocco cannot declare the Western Sahara question closed simply because the UN mission is leaving.
When countries defend self-determination while voting against it
Our analysis of yesterday's UN Security Council vote on Western Sahara reveals a striking gap between what some governments said about the Saharawi people's right to self-determination and the resolution they voted to support.
US and Russia veto competing Western Sahara resolutions, leaving MINURSO’s future uncertain
In an extraordinary confrontation, both permanent members blocked each other’s proposals on Western Sahara. With no resolution adopted, the UN mission faces an imminent expiry of its mandate.