News
Image

The European Parliament's new legal opinion states that Morocco has never claimed an Exclusive Economic Zone over the waters off Western Sahara. Read the full text of the opinion here.

Published 06 November 2013
Image
In today's meeting of EU Ambassadors, a majority of EU Member States indicated to favour the newly proposed EU-Morocco fisheries protocol, which opens for EU fishing in the waters of occupied Western Sahara. Sweden, Denmark, Finland, the UK and the Netherlands have announced that they will not support the proposal.
Published 06 November 2013
Image

The EU Member States did not come to a decision on the proposed EU-Morocco Fisheries Protocol today. The vote will be postponed a few days.

Published 30 October 2013
Image
Tomorrow, the Ambassadors of the EU Member States will examine whether a qualified majority favouring the new EU-Morocco Fisheries Protocol can be reached.
Published 29 October 2013
Image

The Tasmanian based fertilizer producer Impact has stopped its imports from Western Sahara.

Published 21 October 2013

An impact assessment ordered by the EU Commission on the effects of the envisioned EU-Morocco DCFTA confirms that Western Sahara is part of the deal's scope. But the people with the sovereign rights to the land, the Saharawis, will not even be heard as a stakeholder to the process.

Published 17 October 2013
Image

Agrium Inc, a Canadian agro-business, is expecting its first shipment of phosphate rock from occupied Western Sahara by the end of the month. The matter has attracted media attention in Canada, stating that "it could be the first import of conflict minerals coming directly into Canada since the apartheid era in South Africa".

Published 16 October 2013
Questions in the Moroccan Parliament regarding the identities of the beneficiaries of fishing licences were denied an answer by the Moroccan government. But leaks in the media indicate that it is mainly Moroccan army generals and defected Saharawis who are on the receiving end.
Published 16 October 2013

In its statement to the United Nations’ Special Political and Decolonization Committee (Fourth Committee), Western Sahara Resource Watch drew attention to companies trading in phosphate rock from occupied Western Sahara and Groupe Total's unethical seabed oil exploration in the adjacent waters.

Published 11 October 2013

The EU-Commission’s newly proposed and controversial Fisheries Partnership Agreement (FPA) with Morocco has failed to gain support from the Danish Government and a broad majority in the Danish Parliament.

Published 08 October 2013
Former UN Legal Counsel Hans Corell states to Swedish media that the legal opinion made for the Security Council in 2002 has been misused by both the EU and investors in the oil sector.
Published 06 October 2013
The European Parliament discussed the resumption of EU illegal fisheries offshore occupied Western Sahara on 3 October.

Published 06 October 2013
Image

A reading of the newly public, proposed EU-Morocco fisheries protocol reveals that the Commission has failed in its efforts to take into account an important demand from the European Parliament and Council: A clause on human rights.

Published 01 October 2013
Image

Morocco’s tomato export season starts today. But some of the ‘Moroccan’ tomatoes you’ll soon find in your shop have been grown illegally in a territory under military occupation. Have you spotted dirty tomatoes? Help us to identify them in your local store!

Published 01 October 2013
Image

The US/Canadian company PotashCorp and Australian company Incitec Pivot have been kicked out of the Swedish government´s pension funds due to imports from occupied Western Sahara.

Published 30 September 2013
Image
The European Commission has just released the official translation of the draft EU-Morocco Fisheries Protocol. The text, still requiring Parliament and Council's consent, fails to exclude the waters of occupied Western Sahara. Read the contentious document here.
Published 25 September 2013
Image

One year ago, a wind farm project that Morocco is undertaking in occupied Western Sahara was turned down when seeking to obtain UN-sponsored carbon credits. Now, that same project has been approved by another, private credit issuing agency.

Published 23 September 2013

In July, Total finished one year of seismic exploration offshore Western Sahara. A new video shows the vessels at Las Palmas harbour, just after their assigment had ended. 

Published 20 September 2013
Image
Western Sahara Resource Watch today launched a report on the French oil company Total’s irresponsible comeback in occupied Western Sahara. The company carries out exploration in the territory despite the UN legal office stating it would be in violation of international law.
Published 02 September 2013
Image

In the coming months, the European Union will decide whether or not to agree to the newly proposed fisheries accord with Morocco, allowing EU vessels to access Western Sahara's waters. The Saharawi fishermen speak out against the deal: “The agreement is an act of theft and a serious threat to the environment”. Read their official statement here.

Published 30 August 2013