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French oil multinational Total, with the biggest licence offshore occupied Western Sahara, says it will only disclose in mid-January whether it has renewed or not its licence in the territory.
Published 20 December 2013
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The Moroccan government has opened up for another oil block further offshore the territory it holds under occupation.

Published 19 December 2013
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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.

Published 12 December 2013

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.

Published 11 December 2013
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Today, the European Parliament decided to back up the EU-Morocco fisheries agreement, opening for fishing in the waters of Western Sahara, a territory of which large parts have been occupied by Morocco since 1975. "A sad day for international peace and human rights" states WSRW. The deal was inked on the 1 year anniversary of the Nobel Peace Prize - and on the International Day of Human Rights.
Published 10 December 2013
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"I want to see a free society in Western Sahara – where we are able to decide for ourselves how we will share our natural resources with the world, and where the economic benefits will come to my people, not to the settlers who come with the support of the King and the Moroccan army to take our territory and property", leading Western Sahara human rights activist Aminatou Haidar stressed in a letter to the European Parliamentarians today.
Published 09 December 2013
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Saharawis protesting against the EU's provocative plans to pay Morocco for fishing rights in occupied Western Sahara were attacked by Moroccan police yesterday. President-in-exile asked in a letter today UN secretary general for intervention vis-à-vis Morocco's "repeated assaults against the peaceful and defenseless Sahrawi citizens" and to prevent illegal EU fisheries deal.
Published 08 December 2013

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.

Published 08 December 2013
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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 given its consent as the UN and international law require.

Published 07 December 2013
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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.

Published 07 December 2013
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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.

Published 05 December 2013
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A large coalition of European and Western Sahara groups asks the European Parliament not to pay Morocco to fish in the waters it occupies. 16.189 individuals have joined the letter, including thousands of refugees from Western Sahara.
Published 05 December 2013
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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.

Published 04 December 2013
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Though a divided EU Council backed the deal last month, several EU Member States issued statements of concern on the inclusion of Western Sahara. Read the statements of Sweden, Denmark, Austria, Germany, Ireland, UK and the Netherlands here.
Published 03 December 2013
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Greenpeace International today launched a report documenting the increasing private Moroccan fleet in Western Sahara. The combination of that fleet with a new European fisheries agreement with Morocco is not sustainable, according to Greenpeace, calling for the European Parliament to reject renewed EU fisheries in the occupied waters.
Published 02 December 2013
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Saharawi Natural Resource Watch - the local group of Saharawis investigating the plunder of their own country - today issued the report 'Poor People in a Rich Country'.
Published 26 November 2013
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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”.

Published 24 November 2013
The Saharawi government has today issued a press release on the plans of petroleum firms Cairn Energy PLC and Kosmos Energy LLC for exploratory drilling in the waters of occupied Western Sahara in 2014. Read their statement here.
Published 20 November 2013
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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.

Published 19 November 2013
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The oil journal African Energy published in its latest issue a large story about Kosmos Energy’s oil programme in Western Sahara. Kosmos defends its operations.
Published 19 November 2013
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The company behind the massive discards of sardines in Western Sahara is certified by Friend of the Sea for sustainable sardine fisheries. UPDATE: Friend of the Sea state company no longer is certified.
Published 19 November 2013
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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.

Published 19 November 2013
While the European Parliament still has to vote on the newly proposed EU-Morocco fish deal, the EU Member States and Morocco have already inked the text.
Published 19 November 2013
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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.

Published 18 November 2013
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The congress of the European Liberal youth organisation LYMEC this week-end called for the European Parliament to vote down a proposed fisheries agreement with Morocco covering the waters that Morocco has illegally occupied.
Published 18 November 2013
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The Swiss supermarket chain Coop in October started labelling their tomatoes from "Western Sahara".

Published 17 November 2013

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.

Published 16 November 2013
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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.

Published 15 November 2013
UK oil company Cairn Energy has partnered with Kosmos Energy to drill in occupied Western Sahara. Such activities are in violation of international law, according to the UN.
Published 08 November 2013
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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.

Published 29 August 2013
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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.

Published 28 August 2013
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The Lithuanian fertilizer company Lifosa has received at least seven bulk shipments so far in 2013. WSRW asks them to terminate its voluminous imports.
Published 27 August 2013
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WSRW has received photos of the vessel 'Trio Vega' loading sand in the harbour of El Aaiun, the capital of occupied Western Sahara.

Published 27 August 2013

In early July, WSRW contacted the energy companies that are pre-qualified to build windmills in occupied Western Sahara. The response has been meager.

Published 06 August 2013
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A new fish market has been inaugurated at the port of Boujdour in occupied Western Sahara, south of the capital El Aaiun. The development expands Morocco's capacity to exploit the already damaged fish stocks even further.
Published 01 August 2013
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The European Commission has today signed a new Fisheries Protocol with Morocco, which will allow EU vessels to resume fishing in the waters of occupied Western Sahara.
Published 24 July 2013
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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.

Published 22 July 2013
A solution to the problem "of a political nature" - the inclusion of occupied Western Sahara's waters through a deal with occupying power Morocco - is said to be close.
Published 09 July 2013
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Two companies - linked to each other - both claim to have ownership over the Boujdour Offshore Shallow block in occupied Western Sahara.

Published 05 July 2013
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The European Council has communicated to WSRW that it cannot disclose its legal opinion on the EU-Morocco Fisheries Agreement of 2006, due to its "great political sensitivity".
Published 04 July 2013
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A fishing company operating in occupied Western Sahara and a Saharawi support group in Norway have concluded an agreement under the umbrella of the OECD guidelines for multinational companies.
Published 04 July 2013
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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.

Published 03 July 2013
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The Moroccan government's plans to develop wind farms in occupied Western Sahara have drawn the interest of 16 international companies.
Published 03 July 2013
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San Leon Energy "is offering interested parties the opportunity to acquire a material equity" in return of driling on its Tarfaya block according to a document from the company today. WSRW warns future investors from entering the uethical block.
Published 02 July 2013
Polisario has urged the UN to create a fund that will allow the Saharawi people to benefit from Morocco's plunder of Western Sahara's natural resources.
Published 14 June 2013
The US Department of Labour claims that there is reason to assume that children in Western Sahara are engaged in some of the worst forms of child labour, "particularly in dangerous forms of agriculture".
Published 13 June 2013
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The US oil company Kosmos Energy has contracted a rig from Atwood Oceanics for drilling next year. There is a large chance that drilling will take place in occupied Western Sahara, for the first time since the UN said it would be illegal.
Published 13 June 2013
The Norwegian pension scheme KLP is excluding the French oil company Total from its investments. KLP considers Total’s activities in Western Sahara unethical.
Published 04 June 2013
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Morocco claims to be in negotiation with an oil company for a new block offshore Western Sahara.

Published 01 June 2013
Still no reply on future options nor stakeholder consultation. Total respond that would be politics.
Published 29 May 2013
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Dozens of Saharawi fishermen who took part in the protest last Saturday in the harbour of Dakhla have been summoned by the Moroccan police.

Published 29 May 2013
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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.

Published 27 May 2013
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Morocco’s phosphate mine in occupied Western Sahara receives key Swedish equipment.

Published 26 May 2013
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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.

Published 21 May 2013
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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.

Published 05 May 2013
The European Commission and Morocco commenced first round negotiations for a Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area last week in Rabat.
Published 30 April 2013
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The text of the Russia-Morocco fish accord reveals that Russian vessels are supposed to fish in the Moroccan Exclusive Economic Zone – that should preclude Western Saharan waters. WSRW has made an English translation of the Russian-Moroccan agreement.
Published 26 April 2013
While Morocco is lobbying hard against a proposal to have the UN monitor human rights in Western Sahara, the EU Commissioner for Fisheries states that she is still awaiting Rabat's response to the proposal for including human rights safeguards for the Western Sahara territory in a new EU-Morocco fisheries protocol.
Published 23 April 2013
In a letter 30 March 2013, Frente Polisario called on the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon to intervene to stop the Moroccan-French oil exploration offshore occupied Western Sahara.
Published 16 April 2013
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The Clean Development Mechanism insists on following normal approval procedures regarding Morocco's for projects in Western Sahara.

Published 12 April 2013
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While recommending Ban Ki-Moon for expressing the need for human rights monitoring in Western Sahara, WSRW laments that his report fails to address the full extent of the issue of Morocco's plunder of the territory's natural resources.

Published 12 April 2013
....and other questions relating to the Western Sahara operations. Total has just emailed WSRW.
Published 11 April 2013
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'Saharawi Natural Resources Watch', dedicated to monitor the Moroccan plunder of the occupied parts of Western Sahara, was created in the Saharawi refugee camps in Algeria 9 April 2013.
Published 11 April 2013
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As the US-Canadian company PotashCorp tomorrow receives yet another vessel filled with phosphate rock from occupied Western Sahara, WSRW writes the company for the fourth time, requesting answers.
Published 09 April 2013
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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.

Published 09 April 2013
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The underground water reserves of occupied Western Sahara are allegedly being drained by the agricultural industry in the territory.

Published 06 April 2013
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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.

Published 05 April 2013
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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.

Published 19 March 2013
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Western Sahara Resource Watch today again asked Total, for the third time, for explanations of their operations in the waters of occupied Western Sahara.
Published 15 March 2013
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Morocco and the European Union are to begin talks over a Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement in Rabat on 22 April.
Published 14 March 2013
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The new Dutch government has reiterated the position of their predecessors: Products from Western Sahara cannot enter the EU market labelled as from Morocco.

Published 13 March 2013

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.

Published 05 March 2013
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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.

Published 05 March 2013
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"Just announced the launch of negotiations for a free-trade agreement with Morocco,'' European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso tweeted on Friday, after his meeting with Morocco’s prime minister Abdelillah Benkirane. That Free Trade Agreement will have consequences for Western Sahara.
Published 04 March 2013

Read the official text on the action brought by the Frente Polisario against the Council of the European Union, as published in the Official Journal of the European Union on 23 February 2013.

Published 27 February 2013
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In a landmark initiative, the liberation movement of Western Sahara has referred an EU-Morocco free trade agreement to the European Court of Justice. The news was three days ago discreetly published in the official EU journal.

Published 27 February 2013
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Money and Western Sahara - the two obstacles that hamper the EU-Morocco negotiations for a new fisheries agreement.
Published 27 February 2013
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On 27 February, the date of the foundation of the Western Sahara Republic in exile, the European Commission will commence talks with Morocco on a Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement – a trade deal which will have a profound impact on occupied Western Sahara.
Published 25 February 2013