While the EU is in the process of negotiating a Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement with Morocco, 31 Saharawi NGOs recommend the EU to respect international law by excluding their occupied homeland. The organisations represent the vast majority of Saharawi civil society groups in the occupied territories of Western Sahara and in the refugee camps in south-west Algeria.
The Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement (DCFTA) will allow for Morocco’s progressive economic integration into the EU single market, offering the country more opportunities to export its goods to the EU and to attract European investments. In return, the EU countries will be granted better access to the Moroccan market.
If the EU sticks to its business-as-usual with Morocco – not expressly defining the geographical extent of the agreement and therefore failing to explicitly exclude Western Sahara from the deal’s scope – the DCFTA may open up huge opportunities for EU business in the occupied territory.
In their letter to the European Commission dated 26 June 2012, the 31 NGOs, representing Saharawi civil society in the occupied territories and the refugee camps, expressed the following views:
1. In all future trade deals between the EU and Morocco, we would urge that the territory of Western Sahara is clearly and explicitly excluded.
2. No Trade Agreement should be signed with the occupying power Morocco, for economic activities to take place in the occupied territories of Western Sahara, in disregard of the wishes and interests of the Saharawi people.
3. If entering into an Agreement covering the illegally occupied Non-Self Governing Territory of Western Sahara, all measures must be taken to consult the Saharawi people and respect their interests. A transparent strategy must be presented to ensure that the Saharawi people are genuinely consulted and that they give their consent to the process. In addition, a full assessment of human rights implications must precede the take-off of those negotiations.
4. The EU should encourage Morocco to show respect for human rights both inside its internationally recognised borders and in its extra-territorial behaviour, notably in Western Sahara.
The full letter of the 31 organisations can be downloaded here.
Enel dodges question on project in occupied territory
A decade after it was first announced, the fate of one of Enel’s wind farms in occupied Western Sahara remains uncertain.
Global Diligence defends operations on occupied land
The legal advisory firm Global Diligence, which presents itself as expert on ‘heightened due diligence’, misrepresents international law in occupied Western Sahara.
MEPs shocked by Commission's Western Sahara bypass
In a hearing at the European Parliament earlier this week, lawmakers expressed outrage at how the Commission sidestepped them to push through a new agreement covering occupied Western Sahara, in violation of EU Court rulings.
EU pushes secretive Morocco trade deal covering Western Sahara
As EU ambassadors give their green light to a new Morocco trade deal, the public is still denied access to the very agreement they are voting on - a striking case of secrecy in Brussels.