The imports of fishmeal into Germany from occupied Western Sahara is a lot larger than what has been known to the public so far, according to fresh data from the Bremen government.
Notwithstanding four consecutive rulings of the EU's highest Court calling such a practice illegal, the European Parliament has just now voted in favour of the EU-Morocco Fisheries Agreement that will be applied to the waters of occupied Western Sahara.
In its letter to the European Parliament, the leading international human rights NGO highlights the need for an opinion of the EU Court of Justice on applying the EU-Morocco Fisheries Agreement to a territory that is under occupation.
An unprecedented number of Euro-Parliamentarians have backed a proposal to refer the proposed EU-Morocco Fisheries Agreement - which will be expressly applied to occupied Western Sahara - to the EU Court of Justice.
As the European Parliament shapes up to vote on including occupied Western Sahara into the EU-Morocco fisheries agreement, the newly published Freedom in the World report by Freedom House categorises the territory as the seventh most repressive human rights place on the planet.
The Norwegian vessel that turned 180 degrees upon arriving South African waters with fish from occupied Western Sahara, has spent the last two days discharging its cargo in the port of Abidjan. An international request for detaining the vessel was sent out to African states.
Only hours after Green Glacier this afternoon arrived Cape Town with a probable cargo of frozen fish from Western Sahara - it started on the 1 week trip back to West Africa without having offloaded any of its controversial cargo.
"You may have access to paragraphs 1 to 3 including footnotes 1 to 7". The EU Council replied to WSRW's request for public access to its legal opinion on including Western Sahara in the new EU-Morocco fisheries agreement.
The deal will is now tabled for a final vote in the Parliament's plenary session of 13 February.
The Canadian company Wolverine last month completed the take-over of Petromaroc, the small company with interest on the Zag block in occupied Western Sahara
Agricultural groups in Spain strongly criticize the European Parliament's support for extending EU-Morocco trade relations into Western Sahara, stating that it harms the interests of the EU's own fruit and vegetable farmers.
A Norwegian vessel that is likely transporting frozen fish from occupied Western Sahara could be on thin ice. In three days from now, 'Green Glacier' will enter South African waters - the jurisdiction that detained a stolen cargo from Western Sahara in 2017.
Today, 444 (!) members of the European Parliament decided to ignore the EU case law and vote to include occupied Western Sahara into a trade agreement With Morocco. See here which parliamentarians who voted for this travesty of justice, and whom tried to prevent it.
The European Parliament today approved a new EU-Morocco trade agreement for Western Sahara, without having asked the people of Western Sahara whether they want it. "A sad day for democracy and those who believe in rule of law", WSRW comments.
WSRW got access to a release sent out to international media by Western Sahara's liberation movement.
The leading MEP on the proposal to extend EU-Morocco trade relations into occupied Western Sahara wants a legal opinion to be certain the proposed Western Sahara trade scheme meets the standards of the highest EU Court. The European Parliament is to vote this afternoon.