One of China's giant state-owned fishing firms, Shanghai Fisheries General Corp, is looking to become a major presence in "Moroccan waters".
The Moroccan government has opened up for another oil block further offshore the territory it holds under occupation.
The choice of the EU to enter into a deal with Morocco for the plundering of the natural resources of occupied Western Sahara cause heavy reactions from the people of the territory.
Footage of this protest yesterday in El Aaiun was taken two hours after the European Parliament consented to the EU-Morocco fisheries protocol, which allows for EU fishing in occupied Western Sahara. The people of Western Sahara have not been asked for their approval.
Saharawi social media are boiling over of videos and images of the demonstration yesterday against the EU plans to partner with Morocco to exploit the fish resources of the occupied territory. We have gathered some of it.
EU plans to pay Morocco to fish offshore occupied Western Sahara. Saharawis are mobilising everywhere to prevent the scandal: in the refugee camps, in occupied territories and on social media.
Several Saharawis were injured by Moroccan police in a demonstration against the EU's plans to fish in occupied Western Sahara, Saturday evening. European Parliament will on Tuesday vote on an illegal fisheries agreement with Morocco, covering the occupied territory. The local people of Western Sahara are frustrated, not having been consulted as the UN and international law require.
The aspects of international law that was of concern to the European Parliament back in 2011 have not been answered to in the new proposed fisheries agreement, state 21 jurists.
In a critical letter dated 1 December 2013, the president of the Pan-African Parliament calls on the European Parliament's president, Mr. Martin Schulz, to vote against fisheries agreement with Morocco offshore the coast of the AU member state, Western Sahara.
The Saharawi Natural Resources Watch (SNRW) has called on all European Parliamentarians, to reject the new EU-Morocco fishing agreement, which will be voted in December in the European Parliament so as to “honor Europe and its peoples”.
An increasingly large fleet of foreign vessels work offshore Western Sahara. This shocking series of new images show how the fisheries are managed in the waters that Morocco occupies.
When the vessels come in with too much fish to El Aaiun harbour, the surplus is trown away at a waste dump nearby. New and fresh images show tonnes of fish dumped onshore.
On Sunday 17 November, dozens of Saharawis took to the streets of El Aaiun to protest against the involvement of Total, Siemens and the EU in the illegal exploitation of their occupied country's natural resources.
The Swiss supermarket chain Coop in October started labelling their tomatoes from "Western Sahara".
Saharawi student asked Morocan state phosphate company how her people benefits from the plunder. OCP now tries to silence the stunt, by preventing it from being aired on Youtube.
YEPP, the youth section of the EU parliament's conservative platform EPP, has asked the EU to not enter into deals with Morocco that also covers natural resources from the annexed Western Sahara. WSRW was just made aware of this text, originally adopted in YEPP congress in May.
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.
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.
The Tasmanian based fertilizer producer Impact has stopped its imports from Western Sahara.
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.
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".
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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
L'associazione Western Sahara Resource Watch ha pubblicato oggi stesso un rapporto che descrive come il Marocco intenda costruire impanti di energia rinnovabile di più di 1000 MW (megawatt) nel Sahara Occidentale, un territorio che il Marocco occupa parzialmente.
Western Sahara Resource Watch has today launched a report detailing how Morocco intends to build over 1000 MW (megawatts) of renewable energy plants in Western Sahara, a territory that Morocco partially occupies.
WSRW has received photos of the vessel 'Trio Vega' loading sand in the harbour of El Aaiun, the capital of occupied Western Sahara.
In early July, WSRW contacted the energy companies that are pre-qualified to build windmills in occupied Western Sahara. The response has been meager.
Two vessels that have been contracted by French oil company Total to search occupied Western Sahara's seabed for oil, are currently at anchor in the harbour of Las Palmas. See videos and photos here.
Two companies - linked to each other - both claim to have ownership over the Boujdour Offshore Shallow block in occupied Western Sahara.
The American company General Electric has communicated to WSRW that they are no longer participating in the tender to construct two wind farms in occupied Western Sahara.
Morocco claims to be in negotiation with an oil company for a new block offshore Western Sahara.
Dozens of Saharawi fishermen who took part in the protest last Saturday in the harbour of Dakhla have been summoned by the Moroccan police.
On Saturday, Saharawi fishermen blocked the entrance to the harbour of Dakhla for two hours, in protest of abominable working conditions, discriminatory recruiting practices and overfishing.
Morocco’s phosphate mine in occupied Western Sahara receives key Swedish equipment.
The Moroccan authorities have allegedly barred the UN Peace Mission in Western Sahara from entering the harbour of Dakhla, located in the south of the occupied territory.
While trade unionists marched worldwide in celebration of workers' rights on Labour Day, trade unionists in occupied Western Sahara were prevented from doing the same.
The Clean Development Mechanism insists on following normal approval procedures regarding Morocco's for projects in Western Sahara.
One of Switzerland’s largest supermarket chains has stated it will replace the ‘Morocco’ labels with ‘Western Sahara’ on melons that are imported from the occupied territory.
The underground water reserves of occupied Western Sahara are allegedly being drained by the agricultural industry in the territory.
The Moroccan Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs, Youssef Amrani, says that the European Parliament is a “dinosaur” that obstructs efforts to reach a new EU-Morocco fisheries agreement.
A group representing over 60 MEPs has sent a letter to EU diplomacy chief Catherine Ashton and Commissioner for Fisheries Maria Damanaki, requesting them to respect the Saharawi people's wishes and interests when seeking to conclude a new fish deal with Morocco.
The new Dutch government has reiterated the position of their predecessors: Products from Western Sahara cannot enter the EU market labelled as from Morocco.
Chinese company BGP affirms to WSRW undertaking seabed research on behalf of French oil firm Total. This article has been updated: Seismic study to end 30 March 2013.
Despite ongoing protest, German multinational Siemens is currently in the process of shipping windmill parts to El Aaiun, occupied Western Sahara. The company is partnering with the same royal family that brutally occupied the territory.
