Shortly before the Government of New Zealand changed, the former Minister of Trade, Hon Phil Goff, wrote two letters regarding the natural resource exploitation. Read them here.
On December 5th 2008, a petition letter signed by 426 organisations was sent to the EU commission demanding that occupied Western Sahara be kept outside of the Morocco-EU socalled Advanced Status cooperation. Do you wish your organisation had signed, but did not make the deadline?
Two so-called reefers, or refrigerated ships, have recently visited El Aaiun harbour in occupied Western Sahara, for transport of frozen fish to Russia and China.
The bulk vessel Furness Karumba arrived this port in Perth, Australia, in August.
New Zealand firm Ballance Agri-Nutrients is importing phosphates from Western Sahara, contributing in the financing and legitimation of the illegal occupation from the territory. Here is correspondence between the NZ firm and the Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara.
In an extraordinary show of arrogance and disdain for representatives of civil society organizations, the Washington based law firm Covington & Burling flatly refuses to engage with the global solidarity network Western Sahara Resource Watch (WSRW) and this year's Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Human Rights Award laureate, Mrs. Aminatou Haidar. The US law firm is, because of a legal analysis it provided, the source the world phosphate industry refers to when they claim the phosphate trade from Western Sahara to be legal.
Several Swedish parliamentarians from one of the parties in the Swedish government, have motioned that the Swedish Government should work to prevent the EU from signing any new agreements or agreements of advanced status with Morocco "as long as the country occupies Western Sahara".
BASF, the German chemical company who imported Western Saharan phosphates early October, wrote that they "are fully confident that the operations of OCP at Boucraa and the purchase of the replacement delivery were consistent with international law". But after request from WSRW, they refuse to publish their “expert opinion” upon which their conclusion is based. To clarify further aspects of the unpublished report, they refer to a US law firm.
The fertilizer company Yara remains under investigation by Norwegian police after having purchased a shipload of phosphates from occupied Western Sahara.
Read the report on the international trade union delegation to occupied Western Sahara from 17th to 22nd of February 2008.
Western Sahara Resource Watch has received more photos documenting the vessel that arrived Tasmania, Australia, end of October, carrying phosphates from occupied Western Sahara.
The talks of granting a so-called Advanced Status to Morocco are getting ever more concrete. But to this day, the EU and Morocco have still avoided stating whether or not occupied Western Sahara should be involved in the cooperation. “There is an elephant walking around in the negotiations room, which no one wants to see or mention”, said WSRW in press release today. Read press release and letter to the EU here.
J. Lauritzen, the Danish shipping conglomerate, has been accused of plundering natural resources from the occupied Western Sahara, a report said.