In December 2010, the long term agreement between the Mexican phosphate importer Innophos and the Moroccan phosphate company OCP expired. The trade has been going on for 18 years, and it is not known whether arrangements have been made to continue the cooperation. The firm has not yet responded to questions WSRW sent in October regarding the unethical purchases from the occupied territory.
The firm Ballance Agri-Nutrients is busy this Christmas plundering the phosphate resources of the Sahrawi people.
Members of the European Parliament in Brussels who defend the illegal fisheries agreement offshore Western Sahara, did not want to explain their position to Swedish national radio.
The bulk vessel Orient Dream, in far right corner, is currently waiting to offload its cargo of phosphates from occupied Western Sahara. Photo was taken in Tasmania, Australia, two days ago.
The Norwegian fish oil producer GC Rieber clarifies that their refinery Maromega in TanTan in South Morocco has stopped all purchases from Western Sahara.
"Which fish ends up at the Christmas table? Against a new fishery agreement between the EU and Morocco”. December 19th 2010, demonstrators gathered in front of the German foreign office and the French embassy in protest over the EU plundering of occupied Western Sahara.
The Spanish embassy in Oslo does not wish to respond to the question whether the word “wishes” is mentioned in the conclusion of the UN 2002 legal opinion. In order to get an answer of how Spain interprets the UN document, a national Norwegian student organisation was referred to the Saharawi delegation in Madrid.
“I believe that one has misinterpreted my legal opinion to the Security Council in a very astonishing way”, stated former UN legal counsel, Hans Corell, in Swedish Radio today. “It is important that Europe does not act in such a way that it puts obstacles in the way for the UN to find a solution to the conflict”, he stated regarding the EU fisheries in the territory.
The European Fisheries Commissioner, Maria Damanaki, is evaluating the possibility of negotiating a new fishing agreement with Morocco which excludes the waters of Western Sahara. If approved, more than a hundred EU vessels would have to withdraw from the Moroccan fisheries. FIS, 17 December 2010.
The Chilean owned vessel Sibulk Prosperity few weeks ago arrived US with conflict minerals from occupied Western Sahara.
The European Commission earlier this year asked the Moroccan government of a report on how the Saharawis benefit from the EU fisheries. “This position is simply not acceptable”, writes former UN Legal Counsel Hans Corell in an article.
A Danish journalist was expelled from Morocco after having published a story with comments from the Danish Government and former MINURSO chief.
The Irish oil company San Leon explores illegally for oil in occupied Western Sahara. On 19 December 2010, Western Sahara Action Ireland demonstrated against San Leon's work.
UN General Assembly called on 10 December a halt of economic activity in colonies that are detrimental to the people\'s interest.
Western Sahara Resource Watch (WSRW) has asked international banks to halt further funding of the US oil firm Kosmos Energy. The company is exploring for oil offshore occupied Western Sahara.
"Credible reports indicate that Lt Gen Benanni is using his position as the Commander of the Southern Sector to skim money from military contracts and influence business decisions. A widely believed rumor has it that he owns large parts of the fisheries in Western Sahara", a new Wiki-leaked US embassy cable states.
The Irish/British companies illegally exploring for oil in occupied Western Sahara had planned seismic studies for Fourth Quarter this year. They have still not started, but the plans to carry out the programme remains.
In the midst of a complete media blackout and during a wave of human rights violations, Moroccan government has set up a separate charter plane to Western Sahara to convince Spanish businessmen that doing business in the territory is safe and smart.
Here are the exact coordinates of the Zag Basin block, explored by San Leon Morocco Ltd, Longreach Oil and Gas Ventures Limited and "Island International Exploration Morocco”.
First cable from US embassy mentions 3 billion Euro deals for Sarkozy, as French Western Sahara policy leans towards Moroccan position. Among the agreements signed by Sarkozy, was the nuclear deal with Moroccan phosphate plunderer OCP.
At least six Scandinavian investors have the last few years divested from international fertiliser firms importing from occupied Western Sahara.
Slovenian Member of European Parliament, Ivo Vajgl, asks for increased mandate for UN peace force in the occupied Western Sahara.
On Thursday 25th November, Danish Radio broadcasted a documentary on EU’s illegal fisheries in occupied Western Sahara. Two days later, the journalist behind the programme was expelled from Morocco.
Read also: Here is the EU fish story that the Moroccan government didn't like
Thai shipping company Precious Shipping has carried out 3 shipments from Western Sahara to Colombia in just over a year. WSRW asked today the company to halt the transports until the conflict is solved.
Despite of the clear conclusions in the report presented by the Legal Service office of the European Parliament which point to the necessity to revise or cancel the fisheries agreement between the EU and Morocco if it continues to ignore the wishes and interests of the Saharawi people, the EU ambassador to Morocco, Eneko Landáburu, declared on 27 of May in Rabat that “The EU defends the legality of the fisheries agreement with Morocco”.
In a resolution adopted today, the parliamentarians of Europe "Calls on the EU to demand that the Kingdom of Morocco abide by international law regarding the exploitation of the natural resources of Western Sahara".
Karin Scheele, regional minister in Lower Austria, asks the Austrian government to place human rights in Western Sahara before trade interests with Morocco. "The EU does not honour its own principles", Scheele stated.
The French shipping company Setaf Saget removed a vessel from their webpages, and stopped replying to mails, after a French organisation wrote them about a transport of phosphates from occupied Western Sahara.
Some 30 Sahrawis and Norwegians carried out a demonstration in front of the Spanish embassy in Oslo today to protest the Spanish government’s undermining of the Sahrawi people’s rights. Spain is currently pushing the EU to try to renew an illegal fisheries agreement covering the waters offshore the occupied territories.
The international network BHP Billiton Watch dedicated a chapter to the Western Sahara issue when they this week launched its BHP Alternative Annual Report for 2010. The report was published before the BHP announced its withdrawal from the plans of buying Western Sahara phosphate plunderer.
"Had the benefits been flowing to the Saharawi people, would there have been a need for the peaceful and ultimately tragic protests by more than 20,000 Saharawi people in the area in and around El Aaiún, angered by the long-standing political repression and desperate socio-economic conditions prevalent in the Territory?", the Western Sahara liberation movement asked the EU fisheries commissioner Damanaki yesterday.
The British-Australian mining company BHP Billion has decided not to bid for the Canadian fertiliser firm PCS. Western Sahara Resource Watch previously urged BHP to terminate the imports from occupied Western Sahara if it was to gain control over the company. BHP stated today they have "no plans for activities" in the territory.
Speakers: former UN envoy Francesco Bastagli, Law Professor Carlos Ruiz Miguel and Saharawi human rights defender Aminetu Haidar.
For access badges, please send complete name, nationality and date of birth to coordinator@wsrw.org.
In complete violation of international law, Morocco is pillaging the minerals and phosphates in occupied Western Sahara. This week, their office in El Aaiun was raided by Saharawis. A phosphate worker was killed by Moroccan police.
Check out this WSRW video showing the vessel spotted by Brisbane Times.
Every now and then we discover all is not as right with the world as we thought it was. Even so, who would think a wake-up call could come in the shape of phosphatic rock?
In its statement to the United Nations’ Special Political and Decolonization Committee (Fourth Committee), Western Sahara Resource Watch called for the establishment of a mechanism to place the proceeds from the exploitation of Western Sahara’s natural resources under international administration until the conflict has been resolved, and for the inclusion of a human rights component into the MINURSO mandate.
“I ask the EU to please take into account the rights of my people. We, the Saharawi, are saddened over the way this fisheries agreement with Morocco affects our struggle”, stated the Saharawi refugee Senia Abderahman to the European Commission.
The French owned bulk vessel 'Tenor' has in September completed a big shipment to New Zealand of phosphates from occupied Western Sahara. French organisation urges company to halt further transports from the territory.
"If the EU is to raise its credibility with the African Union, reviewing its stance toward Africa’s last colonial conflict would be a good place to start", reads WSRW's letter published in European Voice today.
For more than a month, Aminatou Haidar, the internationally awarded Saharawi human rights activist and President of Saharawi Human Right organisation CODESA, has waited for a reply from the EU’s ambassador to Morocco, Mr. Eneko Landaburu. The EU ambassador is failing to respond to a simple question regarding the legality of the EU fisheries in occupied Western Sahara.
See photos of the vessel 'Christine O' arriving at port Risdon, Hobart, Tasmania, yesterday afternoon. The vessel contained phosphate rock from occupied Western Sahara, purchased by Impact Fertilisers.
This afternoon, a bulk vessel is set to arrive port of Risdon, Hobart, Tasmania, with phosphate rock plundered from occupied Western Sahara. 8 Swiss parliamentarians protest the continued imports.
PotashCorp is the most important customer of phosphate rock from occupied Western Sahara. The rock is exported from Western Sahara by the occupying power, Morocco, in violation of international law. In this interview on Canadian Broadcast Corporation, lawyer Jeffrey Smith explains why it is wrong.
"You should not look for legal or economic arguments to maintain what you do. It is simply wrong", stated a concerned Tasmanian teacher in a letter to the importing firm this week. This new video shows the shipment of phosphates that arrived Impact Fertilisers in Tasmania, July 2010, from occupied Western Sahara.
The vessel MV Brasschaat, managed by Belgian firm Sobelmar Antwerp, arrived yesterday at Port of Klaipeda, Lituania, with conflict minerals despite requests of asking the vessel return to El Aaiun with its cargo.
The Florida fertilizer company Mosaic Co explains that it does not longer carry out imports from occupied Western Sahara. The firm has no delivery contracts, nor any plans of purchasing. PCS is today the only remaining North American importer of phosphates from the occupied territory.
As this photo was taken, the bulk vessel Doric Victory headed directly to occupied Western Sahara to load phosphate rock.
"We urge BHP to issue a statement that upon acquiring PotashCorp, all phosphate-imports from occupied Western Sahara will be terminated", stated Western Sahara Resource Watch in a letter to BHP Billiton Sunday night.
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.
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’.
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.
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.
Norwegian insurance company divests from Australian fertilizer importer over imports from Western Sahara.
“Western Sahara Resource Watch is convinced that the hardships of the Saharawi refugees will continue as long as Morocco continues to illegally profit from the occupation of its neighbouring country”, states Western Sahara Resource Watch on World Refugee Day. The organisation calls on the international community to break the cash-flow from the occupied territories to the Moroccan treasury.
In April, WSRW revealed that the Turkish vessel \'MV Bakü\", had carried out a shipment to Baranquilla, Colombia. Now, the vessel has done it again.
Two vessels have this week-end been offloading phosphates in New Zealand originating from occupied Western Sahara. Today, one of the ships is offloading the valuable product at the harbour of Northport.
Norwegian investor KLP has blacklisted another two new fertiliser companies that buy phosphate from occupied Western Sahara. Furthermore, two additional corporations were dropped from its portfolio because they are linked with nuclear weapons production. Norwatch, 1 June 2010.
Russia has now signed a fisheries agreement with Morocco, permitting the Russian fleet to fish offshore occupied Western Sahara. The Saharawi people has not given its consent, and the agreement is thus in violation of international law.
Last year, European Parliament’s Legal Services stated that EU fisheries in Western Sahara would be illegal if the Saharawi people were not consulted. This week, Morocco refused the Parliament to travel to occupied Western Sahara to find out if they are.
A French-Moroccan firm, Soprofel, employs 2.500 people in Western Sahara, according to a Moroccan newspaper.
EU tax payers pay money to Moroccan government, so that Spanish fishermen can steal the fish belonging to these refugees. See video.