With a large fertiliser factory and a brand new port, Morocco will open a new chapter in the controversial saga of its plunder of phosphate rock in occupied Western Sahara.
As EBRD is rolling out millions of new loans to Morocco's green energy transition, it remains unknown whether the international bank will also fund controversial businesses in occupied Western Sahara.
Parallel to the Moroccan government's participation in a summit in Israel, a first ever export of phosphate rock from occupied Western Sahara to Israel is about to be completed.
“We planted 808 trees in Boujdour, Morocco”, Siemens Gamesa boasts, as it for the umpteenth time forgets which country its controversial project is actually located in.
Two Saharawis protested against Siemens Gamesa's lack of responses over its support to the occupation, during the company's Annual Meeting yesterday.
The Spanish oil companies Cepsa and Repsol continue exporting petroleum products into occupied Western Sahara.
"A regrettable situation", says the director of the shipping company Belships, calling for a ban from the Norwegian authorities.
Saharawi human rights defender placed under house arrest since 16 months, calls on Siemens and Enel to assume their responsibility and leave occupied Western Sahara.
The WSRW report P for Plunder 2022 to be published in April 2022 will contain information on all vessels that departed occupied Western Sahara from 1 January 2021 to 31 December 2021.
This week's annual meeting of Siemens Energy's shareholders marks ten years of silence from the German group regarding projects on occupied land.
The international companies operating in occupied Western Sahara use a combination of arguments to support their presence. None of these are valid.
In a new report, the EU Commission elaborates on how Moroccan settlers in Western Sahara are benefiting from a trade agreement that the EU Court of Justice has found illegal.
A gas pipeline is scheduled from Nigeria to Morocco - through Western Sahara. OPEC is footing the bill of the studies.
As expected, the Council of the EU has appealed the ruling of the EU General Court annulling the application of EU-Morocco deals in occupied Western Sahara. Surprisingly, the EU Commission lodged separate appeals.
Saharawis in Bilbao, Spain, demonstrated as a cargo vessel is arriving to pick up more controversial windmill components for occupied Western Sahara.
In a move that surprised no one, the EU Council has appealed the recent EU Court of Justice stopping EU trade and fisheries in occupied Western Sahara. But Council was not unanimous. UPDATE 06.12.2021.
Here is the Saharawi people’s contribution to the global fight against climate change, presented at a side-event of COP26 today.
To be developed in partnership with the energy firm owned by Morocco’s new prime Minister, the project raises the occupied territory’s share in Morocco’s wind energy generation to 52.25% by 2030.
The Swiss-Russian company EuroChem was most likely behind a controversial imports of conflict minerals to Estonia in October.
In a hearing in the European Parliament yesterday, parliamentarians expressed differing opinions as to whether the ruling of the EU Court should be respected or not.
It's not easy keeping up with all the different legal proceedings relating to Western Sahara. For the sake of clarity, here's an overview of the different cases at the Court of Justice of the European Union.
A hearing in the EU Parliament indicates that there are many questions, and still few answers, on the EU's response to the EU Court ruling annulling bilateral agreements with Morocco over the inclusion of occupied Western Sahara.
The Chinese company China Molybdenum - which imported phosphate rock to its subsidiary in Brazil - will no longer purchase phosphate rock from occupied Western Sahara.
The Spanish company today, yet again, refers to the territory as part of Morocco.
By 2030, half of Morocco's wind energy production could be generated illegally in occupied Western Sahara. Yet, Morocco presents itself as best-in-class on the energy transition.
The Italian company Enel is one of the firms that have taken the exact same approach as the EU when carrying out ‘stakeholder consultations' in Western Sahara - a procedure now found invalid by the EU Court of Justice.
A subsidiary of the US company has signed a contract with the Moroccan king's energy firm for a large wind farm in Western Sahara, consistently referring to the location as part of Morocco.
During a press conference last week, Polisario invited the Union to conversations on continuation of fisheries offshore Western Sahara.
Yesterday, the EU Court of Justice annulled two EU-Moroccan bilateral agreements. WSRW has the following recommendations to the EU institutions.
Today, the EU Court of Justice has struck a blow to the EU’s practice of applying trade and fisheries agreements with Morocco to occupied Western Sahara.
Saharawi refugees celebrate today's victory of their people over the EU in the EU Court of Justice.
The EU Court of Justice will rule on the Union's trade and fisheries agreements with Morocco in occupied Western Sahara on 29 September.
The Mexican imports of phosphate rock from occupied Western Sahara is picking up pace. New images from Mexico today show a second vessel offloading - while a third is on its way.
Here are all vessels that transported petroleum products from Spanish refineries into occupied Western Sahara last year.
The Moroccan government has called in Spanish urban consultants to turn the human rights blackspot of Dakhla into an alleged eco-city.
For the second time in two weeks, windmill products might be exported from Bilbao to occupied Western Sahara.
The bulk carrier Amis Ace went to Mexico, not the US as it had informed. See fresh images from Mexico.
New report urges investors to engage vis-à-vis the unsustainable aquaculture industry.
WSRW has received images of equipment strapped into the hold of a ship that is en route from Bilbao to occupied Western Sahara.
For the first time in three years, a vessel loaded with blood phosphate is heading from Western Sahara to the USA.
UPDATE, 04.08.2021: The ship went to Innophos in Mexico, not to the US.
A third of all fishmeal that Morocco exports is shipped from occupied Western Sahara to Turkey, new WSRW calculation reveals.
Morocco is to dig 2,400 cubic meters of soil in occupied Western Sahara, as part of a mineral exploration.
After a 6-year hiatus in Metalex’ controversial mineral exploration in occupied Western Sahara, the Canadian company sends signals of entering into a new deal with the Moroccan government.
While the EU Court of Justice's verdict on the legality of applying the EU-Morocco trade deal to occupied Western Sahara is only weeks away, the EU Commission plans to visit the territory to assess the deal's impact.
Yet another shipment of US gas is about to arrive to occupied Western Sahara.
Polish companies intend to invest in the Moroccan military in the part of Western Sahara that is under Moroccan military occupation.
WSRW has received access to the 2019 ‘Natural Resources Sovereignty Act’ of the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic.
For the third time in a week, Siemens Gamesa is now shipping windmill masts from Spain to occupied Western Sahara.
In a press release of 6 July, Western Sahara's liberation movement “condemns in the strongest possible terms” Siemens Gamesa’s involvement and this week's exports into the occupied territory.
Today, Siemens Gamesa is loading large masts onboard a vessel in Motril, Spain, to be exported to occupied Western Sahara.
Blueberries “made in Morocco” will in the near future not only be made in Morocco, but also in occupied Western Sahara. WSRW calls on retailers to take measures already now.
A shipment of gas from the US is arriving tomorrow in occupied Western Sahara. This is the second time in just a month.
The US company will address the issue of Western Sahara next time a shipper transports gas from their gas terminal in the UK.
The United Kingdom was the prime exporter of gas into occupied Western Sahara in 2020.
40 protesters yesterday set up a road-block to the entry of Ballance Agri-Nutrients in New Zealand, leading importer of conflict minerals from Western Sahara.
A subsidiary of French multinational VINCI SA will carry out a project that is essential to connecting the controversial energy projects of occupied Western Sahara to Morocco's national electricity grid.
A Moroccan vessel carrying out controversial marine research, paid for by the European Union, is again spotted in the waters of occupied Western Sahara.
WSRW calls for the publication of confidential legal opinions and of the study of Global Diligence.
For a little while, ENGIE had published on its website hints about who it had actually "consulted" when doing business in occupied Western Sahara.
The German building materials giant sides with Morocco in the Western Sahara conflict, avoiding any questions on its own legal obligations in the occupied territory.
The French company Alcatel Submarine Networks SpA, partially owned by Nokia, has laid telecom cables in occupied Western Sahara.
India and New Zealand stand out as the main importers of phosphate rock from occupied Western Sahara, in WSRW’s newest annual report on the controversial trade.
At its Annual General Meeting, Siemens Gamesa was as evasive as ever with regard to core questions about the company's involvement in occupied Western Sahara.
The WSRW report P for Plunder 2021 contains information on all 22 vessels that departed occupied Western Sahara from 1 January 2020 to 31 December 2020.
The German industrial engineering giant is unclear whether it will steer away from future projects in occupied Western Sahara.
The High Court in New Zealand has dismissed carrying out a judicial review on controversial investments in relation to the Western Sahara phosphate trade, but underlines the reputational risk for the Pacific nation.
The French company ENGIE will build infrastructure in Western Sahara, and engaged consultancy firm Global Diligence to whitewash its operations with the occupying power.
The EU Commission and Council are 2 and 3 March being questioned by the Court of Justice regarding the EU's trade and fisheries agreements in occupied Western Sahara.
Most of the EU's financial support to Morocco under the EU-Morocco fisheries agreement has been spent on occupied land, new government report reveals.
Siemens Energy will only talk with the government of Morocco with regard to Western Sahara, according to recent company statement.
The German company Continental has not renewed its supply contract with the Moroccan national phosphate company that exploits the controversial Western Sahara phosphate mine.
WSRW has tracked shipments of phosphate rock from occupied Western Sahara all the way to an industrial compound in Cubatão, Brazil.
The EU Council will tomorrow discuss a proposal to allow Morocco to join the Interbus Agreement – but is clear that the deal will not be extended into Western Sahara.
Siemens Gamesa, Siemens Energy and Enel Spa have been excluded by Norway's largest private asset manager for contributing to violations of international law in occupied Western Sahara.
WSRW is pleased to announce that we finally have a new website! Please be patient with us in the transition. Full functionality will be expected from end of January 2021. Errors can be reported to info@wsrw.org.
To convince Morocco to recognise Israel, Trump not only recognised Morocco's claim to Western Sahara, but allegedly also promised investments in the Moroccan king's personal energy firm which operates in the occupied land with Siemens.
US president Donald Trump issued a statement today in which he backs Morocco's occupation of Western Sahara and the opening of a consulate in Dakhla, "to promote economic and business opportunities".
Through the deal, Russian trawlers will fish exclusively in the waters off occupied Western Sahara.
Four years have passed since the EU Court of Justice ruled that products from occupied Western Sahara cannot be part of EU’s trade agreements with Morocco. Today, WSRW presents an extensive report showing the efforts that the EU is taking to politically undercut the ruling.
The Moroccan Court of Cassation yesterday confirmed the harsh sentences rendered against the so-called Gdeim Izik prisoners. The group took part in the mass protest on socio-economic marginalisation in Western Sahara in 2010.
The Saharawi government has declared that it now considers "the entire territory of the Sahrawi Republic, including its terrestrial, maritime and air spaces, a war zone", advising all countries and economic operators to steer away from the territory.
WSRW submits that Morocco's violation of the ceasefire in occupied Western Sahara, plunging the territory into war and putting lives of Saharawi civilians at risk, is a violation of the EU-Morocco fish deal's human rights clause.
The EU Commission has clarified that Western Sahara is not covered by any EU aviation agreement, and that it does not seek to include it in the EU-Morocco aviation deal. Yet some EU airlines are still offering flights into the territory - now effectively a war zone.
The entry gates to factories of Ravensdown and Ballance Agri-Nutrients around New Zealand were today blocked by pro-Saharawi actitivists denouncing the imports of conflict minerals from occupied Western Sahara.
19 Members of the EU Parliament today urged the EU to warn the two companies Enel and Siemens about the legal and ethical risk that they run in partnering with Morocco for operations on occupied land.
Tension in Western Sahara has not been this high for years.
Swedish company Azelio will not clarify whether its deal with the Moroccan Agency for Sustainable Energy also covers renewable projects in occupied Western Sahara. The details appear in a WSRW report published today.
The Norwegian certification company DNV GL today stated that it is will phase out its participation in Soluna's controversial bitcoin project in occupied Western Sahara
"We condemn Siemens Gamesa for its lack of respect for basic human rights", stated Western Sahara Resource Watch, calling on investors to terminate ongoing engagement processes and exclude the company from their portfolios. The company has yet again signed a large contract for what it refers to as "Southern Morocco".
The large Russian trawl fleet that normally zig-zags the waters off occupied Western Sahara at this time of year is nowhere to be found.
The Swedish mining equipment company Epiroc has announced that it will no longer supply the controversial Bou Craa phosphate mine in occupied Western Sahara. German company Continental should follow the example, WSRW comments.
Western Sahara Resource Watch calls for immediate and unconditional release of the group of leading Saharawi activists who were arrested in 2010 for advocating for socio-economic rights of the Saharawi people.
The Board of Deutsche Post AG completely missed the opportunity to explain its controversial activities in occupied Western Sahara.
Information has surfaced on Morocco's plans for a third solar plant in occupied Western Sahara, to be constructed in close proximity to the agri-business in Dakhla.
The French company plans to commence construction later this year.
As the company will not respond to questions about the activities of its subsidiary DHL in occupied Western Sahara, WSRW asks shareholders to raise the matter at the upcoming AGM.
While Continental’s controversial supply contract in occupied Western Sahara has expired, the company remains silent on a potential renewal - even in the face of shareholders' questions.
The Indian engineering giant Larsen & Toubro erects large energy infrastructure in occupied Western Sahara.
The blockchain computing company Soluna set on building a 900 MW wind farm in occupied Western Sahara, does not respond to questions from civil society.
Siemens has created a new company that will inherit its operations on occupied land in Western Sahara, but still refuses to clarify whether the people of the territory have actually consented to those operations.