The Trade Union of Saharawi Workers in El Aaiún, occupied Western Sahara, started a general strike this morning, denouncing the “policy of segregation applied by Morocco” and the “plundering of Saharawi natural resources”.
Louisiana fishermen, victims of the BP Gulf spill, could be moving their place of work to an occupied country, supporting an illegal and brutal regime. This might be the reality if Washington lobbyists get what they want. Press release, Western Sahara Resource Watch, 30 July 2010.
During the first two weeks of July, highly educated Saharawi took to the streets in Rabat, denouncing the Moroccan plunder of Western Sahara’s natural resources and the fact that they are discriminated in the job market simply for being Saharawi.
The European Commission stated in a letter to WSRW on 23 June 2010 that their fisheries in Western Sahara is legal. In doing so, the Commission has severely misrepresented a UN legal opinion from 2002. WSRW objects to the EU misuse of the UN document.
European Commissioner for Fisheries, Maria Damanaki, has met with a group of euro-parliamentarians regarding the difficulties in renewing the current fisheries agreement between the EU and Morocco. This agreement is set to expire in March 2011 and its ending may lead to the withdrawal of the European fleet from Moroccan waters. EFE, 13 July 2010.
See this great footage of the first ever flashmob musical against the plundering of Western Sahara, in Mercadona-supermarkets across Spain. Mercadona sells canned fish originating from occupied Western Sahara, under their store brand ‘Hacendado’.
The theft of fish from Western Saharan waters should be damned by the European commission, not encouraged. The Guardian, by David Cronin, 10 July 2010.
A microscopic organism, 3 billion years old, could be the latest support for Morocco’s occupation. Another life-giving natural resource is just located inside the occupied territory of Western Sahara.
32 parliamentarians from Finland, Sweden and Denmark today requested the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of their countries to prevent renewed EU fisheries in occupied Western Sahara. Press release, WSRW, 7 July 2010.
The organisation of exiled Sahrawis on the Canary Islands, together with WSRW, last week denounced the opening of a ferry line between the archipelago and the occupied territory. A demonstration took place outside of the offices of the shipping company, Armas.
Letter sent from Western Sahara Resource Watch, 1 July 2010.
The European Commission misuses a UN document to legitimise its fisheries in occupied Western Sahara.
Chair of the European Parliament's Fisheries Committee, Carmen Fraga, says that there will be problems renewing the agreement with Morocco. EFE, 30 June 2010.
Chair of the European Parliament's Fisheries Committee, Carmen Fraga, says that there will be problems renewing the agreement with Morocco. EFE, 30 June 2010.
Despite an unseen division on the issue, a slim majority in the Council assured the one-year prolongation of the controversial EU-Morocco fisheries agreement. Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands, Finland, the UK, Cyprus and Austria could not agree to the proposal.