In the towns of Dakhla, Boujdour and El Aaiun, Kosmos Energy will meet Moroccan officials and pro-Moroccan puppet groups that have been carefully vetted by the Moroccan government to make sure they will not say anything that strays from the official propaganda, namely; there are no problems in “the southern provinces" and Kosmos Energy is very welcome in the territory.

In its meetings today in El Aaiun and tomorrow in Boujdour, Kosmos will not meet with groups that advocate the Saharawi's right to self-determination or that defend their basic human rights. Nor will it see any demonstrations against its presence there, as Morocco's violent clamp-down on any such protest has driven Saharawis away from the streets and into their houses or the desert to express their dissent.

If you know anything about these pro-Moroccan individuals or groups which Kosmos Energy is meeting, please send us information on contact@wsrw.org. No known Saharawi group has, to WSRW's knowledge, ever been contacted by the involved oil companies.

Morocco does not allow registration of Saharawi groups that advocate human rights, the right to self-determination or independence, in spite of calls in the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. Leading opponents against the oil have been sentenced to life prison in Moroccan military court. According to the UN any further oil exploration in Western Sahara will be in violation of international law unless the people of the territory consent to it.

Kosmos does not seem eager to meet actual Saharawis. Saharawi groups have on numerous occasions sent protest letters to both Kosmos and its Scottish partner Cairn Energy.

One such letter, from a group that chooses to remain anonymous out of fear for consequences, reads: "Your company’s actions will bring more problems and would harbor violence and obstruction of peace. We suggest Kosmos Energy should follow the footsteps of Kerr-McGee and thus withdraw from the territory without causing more troubles and loss for yourselves".