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Member of Western Sahara Resource Watch, Elena Pollán, was this week-end forced to leave Western Sahara after harassment from Moroccan police. Pollán was carrying out interviews with Saharawi about the illegal EU fisheries in the territory.

Published 29 May 2011
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Last week, shipments of phosphates arrived in the ports of Hobart and Geelong in Australia. The vessel above, Livadia, was seen arriving Tasmania 27 May 2011.

Published 29 May 2011
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In its annual country-report on Morocco, the European Commission failed to mention a fundamental element: Morocco’s continued occupation of Western Sahara, and the EU’s complicity therein.
Published 26 May 2011

Images from El Aaiun, 23 May 2011.

Published 25 May 2011

The Moroccan authorities don't accept criticism of their ongoing plunder of Saharawi natural resources light-heartedly. El-Aaiún-resident Ali Saadouni was earlier this month brutally beaten by the Moroccan police for speaking out on the Saharawi’s poor living conditions in a resource-rich homeland.

Published 16 May 2011
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The import of phosphate rock to New Zealand from occupied Western Sahara carries on. New shipment coming in next week.

Published 13 May 2011
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Aicha Dahane travels to Australia to denounce Incitec Pivot\'s import of phosphates from occupied Western Sahara.

Published 13 May 2011
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Last year, WSRW asked Thai firm Precious Shipping to terminate its repeated shipments of phosphate rock from Western Sahara. While still not responding to the request, the firm did another shipment last month.

Published 08 May 2011
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UK-Irish oil minors will start seismic surveys in occupied Western Sahara in June 2011.

Published 07 May 2011
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There is no way for the EU member states to know whether the EU fisheries in Western Sahara is according to the wishes of the people of the territory, as international law prescribes.

Published 06 May 2011
European Association of Lawyers for Democracy and World Human Rights (ELDH), representing lawyers in 16 European countries, denounce the EU fisheries in occupied Western Sahara, calling it "illegal".
Published 25 April 2011
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A report from the Association of the Bar of the City of New York urges the UN to investigate Morocco's plunder of natural resources in Western Sahara.

Published 24 April 2011
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During the past week, Saharawi victims of severe human rights violations have taken to the streets of El-Aaiún, demanding more respect for their socio-economic rights. Protesters carried slogans calling attention to the ongoing plunder of Saharawi natural resources, perpetrated by Morocco and complicit foreign interests.

Published 22 April 2011
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The US oil firm Kosmos Energy is contributing to the illegal occupation of Western Sahara, and violates both international law and Western Sahara law, according to the representatives of the people of the territory.
Published 23 March 2011
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President of Western Sahara says the EU is prolonging the conflict through its illegal fisheries in his country's waters.

Published 10 March 2011
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"Morocco does not have the right to exploit the area’s resources as if they were its own", states Norwegian Minister for Foreign Affairs, underlining that fisheries in Western Sahara "must be exercised in accordance with the wishes and interests of the population involved".

Published 07 March 2011
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On Wednesday, the Moroccan police brutally put an end to a Saharawi protest denouncing the Saharawi population’s dismal socio-economic living conditions. The protest was staged in front of the Department of Mines and Energy in El-Aaiún, a symbol of the plunder of Western Sahara's natural resources.
Published 04 March 2011

After two days of talks, the European Commission and Rabat have signed a one-year extension of the EU-Moroccan fisheries agreement on Friday 25 February in Rabat. The original agreement, widely criticized for supporting Morocco’s claim over occupied Western Sahara, was set to expire on 27 February.

Published 28 February 2011
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A Press Release by the Actionsgruppe Westsahara on their demonstration in front of the European Commission's representation in Berlin, Germany, on 18 February 2011.

Published 22 February 2011
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Finnish grocery chain Kesko has decided to stop selling tomatoes from its supplier Azura, which grows tomatoes in Dakhla, occupied Western Sahara.
Published 22 February 2011

Denmark could not stop EU’s fisheries agreement with Morocco, which is earning millions on the occupation of Western Sahara. Information (Denmark), 18 Feb 2011.

Published 18 February 2011
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"In my opinion, we cannot vote for an agreement that is in violation of international law", Swedish minister of agriculture, Eskil Erlandsson, stated in parliament this afternoon regarding tomorrow\'s vote in the Council of Ministers. More states are expected to follow, in trying to stop the continued illegal and unethical EU fisheries agreement in occupied Western Sahara.

Published 17 February 2011

Irish Larbour Party parliamentarian, and presidential candidate, Michael Higgins states that the lack of information from the Commisison regarding the EU illegal fisheries is outrageous. "There has been no consultation with the Saharawi people. Prolongation of the current arrangement is a flagrant violation of international law and the founding principles of the European treaties", Higgins state.

Published 17 February 2011

Continuing EU fisheries in occupied Western Sahara contributes to prolonging the conflict, states 7 parliamentarians in a letter to the Commissioner for Maritime Affairs. They refer to a resolution from the European Parliament urging Morocco to stop the plunder of the territory it occupied in 1975.

Published 17 February 2011
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The president of the Western Sahara republic urges UN Secretary General Ban ki-moon for assistance to stop the EU in the plundering of Western Sahara. The EU is considering prolonging the fisheries in the occupied territories in violation of central UN principles and a key UN legal opinion.

Published 17 February 2011
A group of leading Swedish experts on international law, from 4 Swedish universities, today issued a statement saying any further EU fisheries in Western Sahara would be in violation of international law.
Published 16 February 2011
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The UN states that Saharawi must consent - but the EU doesn't seem to care. Saharawi in occupied Western Sahara protest the EU's violation of international law in their territory, as the European Commission works to continue the unethical fisheries offshore their coast.

Published 16 February 2011

Today the European Commission has sent a recommendation to the European Council for renewing the fisheries in Western Sahara for one year. The Commission does not even mention that the fisheries take place in Western Sahara.

Published 11 February 2011
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The US firm Kosmos Energy has signed yet another prolongation of their illegal oil deal in Western Sahara. According to the UN, oil exploration in Western Sahara is in violation of international law.
Published 09 February 2011
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Next Friday, the European Commission will formally ask the EU-governments for a mandate to negotiate a 12-month extension of the EU-Moroccan fisheries agreement (FPA) on current terms. Read: one more year of paying Morocco to fish in non-Moroccan waters.

Published 09 February 2011

On Monday, the European Parliament's committee for International Trade decided to delay the ratification-process of the EU-Moroccan agricultural agreement due to legal ambiguities.

Published 08 February 2011
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The EU ambassador does not know which independent institutions he himself referred to in May last year, in support of the EU fisheries agreement in Western Sahara. Yesterday, 2 Swedish students met with the embassy in Rabat, and got an answer that the EU has so far not been willing to respond to.
Published 01 February 2011

According to Moroccan police, foreign visitors are not allowed to talk with Saharawi. Several foreign groups have been expelled from Western Sahara or Morocco the last weeks after meeting with local people. This student was kicked out few hours after meeting a network of Saharawi ladies whose sons have disappeared, on 29 January 2011.

Published 01 February 2011
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The proposed EU-Moroccan agricultural agreement lacks clarity on the issue of Western Sahara, according to a newly released legal opinion by the European Parliament’s legal services. The opinion suggests Parliament to examine this ambiguity before giving its consent.
Published 01 February 2011
Brian Cowen, acting Irish Minister of Foreign Affairs, expects Irish companies to have due regard to the principles of international law and the rights of the people of the territory of Western Sahara. Irish company San Leon is leading the way in the onshore exploration of oil and gas in occupied Western Sahara.
Published 28 January 2011
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The Spanish agrarian organisation COAG is convinced that the impending EU-Moroccan agricultural trade liberalisation agreement could be illegal for implicitly including Western Sahara. COAG has now condemned French company Azura’s presence in the occupied territories.

Published 18 January 2011
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For the third consecutive day, Saharawi fishermen have been protesting in the harbour of Boujdour, demanding the right to fish in their own waters. Since Monday, Moroccan police officers have been preventing the Saharawi from accessing their boats.

Published 12 January 2011
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A Spanish member of WSRW, Elena Pollán, was detained in her hotel in El Aaiún last Saturday, 8 January. Pollán and her two friends were forced to take a bus to Marrakech airport, accompanied by a plain-clothed police officer. Though no expulsion warrant was issued, they were involuntarily put on a flight to Madrid.
Published 11 January 2011
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Yesterday morning, 10 January, the Moroccan authorities forcefully prevented 70 young Saharawi fishermen from entering Boujdour’s harbour and the fish market.
Published 11 January 2011
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This is how wide you smile when you contribute to the continued illegal occupation of a country.

Published 04 January 2011

"We have still time to influence so that the waters offshore Western Sahara are left outside of the agreement", writes columnist Helena Olsson in Finland's largest newspaper, Helsingin Sanomat, on the unethical EU fisheries.

Published 04 January 2011
Phosphate mining 400 meters under the sea could start replacing New Zealand imports of Western Sahara phosphate rock already in 2013.
Published 03 January 2011
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Morocco keeps exploring and marketing its uranium potential in Western Sahara, despite the fact it is in violation of international law.

Published 02 January 2010
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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.

Published 01 January 2010
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Sidahmed Lemjiyed, President of the Saharawi Committee for Protection of Natural Resources (CSPRON) was arrested on Dec. 25 in El Aaiun, based on arrest orders issued by the General Prosecutor in November 2010. Lemjiyed Sidahmed has been referred to the Military Tribunal.
Published 01 January 2010
The leading importer of phosphates from occupied Western Sahara, US/Canadian firm PCS, has received yet another vessel.
Published 01 January 2010
These documents are collected from Russian webpages linked to government and fisheries news services, documenting the 2010 renewal of the Moroccan-Russian fisheries cooperation.
Published 01 January 2010
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WSRW has this autumn monitored the Russian fishing vessels in Western Sahara. But the Russian government holds no fisheries agreement for those waters.
Published 01 January 2010
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28 high profile personalities in Portuguese society ask its own government to prevent a renewed EU fisheries agreement in the occupied Western Sahara, and to defend international law, as it did with the case of decolonisation of East Timor.
Published 31 December 2010
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The firm Ballance Agri-Nutrients is busy this Christmas plundering the phosphate resources of the Sahrawi people.

Published 30 December 2010

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.

Published 29 December 2010
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The Moroccan government’s new “Plan Halieutis” envisages big investments in Western Sahara. No reference is made as to whether the plan is according to the wishes of the Sahrawi people.
Published 29 December 2010
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Chief Executive of Moroccan state phosphate company in occupied Western Sahara claims his company is not working to gain profits.
Published 28 December 2010
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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.

Published 28 December 2010
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The Norwegian fish oil producer GC Rieber clarifies that their refinery Maromega in TanTan in South Morocco has stopped all purchases from Western Sahara.

Published 27 December 2010
The firms Etosha/Oceana keep fishing offhore occupied Western Sahara on controversial Moroccan licences.
Published 25 December 2010
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"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.

Published 24 December 2010

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.

Published 23 December 2010

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.

Published 22 December 2010

“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.

Published 22 December 2010

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.

Published 22 December 2010

The Chilean owned vessel Sibulk Prosperity few weeks ago arrived US with conflict minerals from occupied Western Sahara.

Published 22 December 2010
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A Danish journalist was expelled from Morocco after having published a story with comments from the Danish Government and former MINURSO chief.

Published 21 December 2010

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.

Published 21 December 2010

UN General Assembly called on 10 December a halt of economic activity in colonies that are detrimental to the people\'s interest.

Published 18 December 2010
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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.

Published 09 December 2010

"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.

Published 03 December 2010
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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.

Published 03 December 2010

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”.

Published 01 December 2010
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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.

Published 01 December 2010
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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.

Published 01 December 2010

Slovenian Member of European Parliament, Ivo Vajgl, asks for increased mandate for UN peace force in the occupied Western Sahara.

Published 30 November 2010
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Norwegian company obliged to pay 1,2 million Euro in customs for importing fish oil from occupied Western Sahara. The importer falsely labelled Western Sahara products as Moroccan.
Published 30 November 2010
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At least six Scandinavian investors have the last few years divested from international fertiliser firms importing from occupied Western Sahara.

Published 30 November 2010

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

Published 29 November 2010
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EU is currently fishing in occupied Western Sahara in violation of the wishes and interests of the Sahrawi people - and thus in violation of international law. Read the entire transcript of the seminar on illegal EU fisheries in the European Parliament, 16 November 2010.
Published 28 November 2010

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.

Published 26 November 2010

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”.

Published 26 November 2010
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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".

Published 25 November 2010
Emails sent from WSRW to the 2 phosphate importing firms Petrokemija and Tata Chemicals on 24 November 2010, and Tripoliven 25 November 2010.
Published 24 November 2010

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.

Published 23 November 2010
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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.

Published 22 November 2010
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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.

Published 22 November 2010
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The EU could be signing an Agricultural Agreement with Morocco that also covers the territory of Western Sahara. The Spanish farmers demand that the agreement be stopped.
Published 18 November 2010
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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.

Published 18 November 2010
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"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.

Published 17 November 2010
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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.

Published 16 November 2010
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Tuesday 16 November, 14:30 - 16:00, in the European Parliament.
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.
Published 11 November 2010
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The UN Development Programme (UNDP) announces that all its programmes in Morocco “are limited to the internationally recognised borders of Morocco”. UNDP rejects an erroneous media report claiming that a UNDP official praised the development in “Morocco’s Southern Provinces”.
Published 10 November 2010

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. 

Published 10 November 2010
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For 4 weeks, the Saharawis had protested peacefully in a camp outside the Western Sahara capital, against unemployment and discrimination. When the camp was destroyed by the Moroccan army, killing several Saharawi, the protesters went into town, where they set on fire symbols of the plundering.
Published 10 November 2010
“The extremely tense situation in occupied Western Sahara illustrates the need for the UN to work for the protection of the people and the natural wealth of the territory”, stated Western Sahara Resource Watch in a letter to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon and all members of the Security Council today. Read the letter here.
Published 04 November 2010

Check out this WSRW video showing the vessel spotted by Brisbane Times.

Published 03 November 2010

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?

Published 03 November 2010
Brussels, 21 Oct (EFE). – European Commissioner for Fisheries, Maria Damanaki, and the Moroccan Minister for Fisheries, Aziz Akhannouch, have debated the fisheries agreement, set to expire in March 2011. But still no agenda has been set to negotiate its renewal, sources from within the Commission informed Efe.
Published 24 October 2010
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At their annual Party Congress, the European Liberal Democrats’ Party have adopted a resolution stating that the fisheries agreement between the European Union and Morocco should not be extended, unless the Saharan waters are excluded from the agreement.
Published 18 October 2010
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In protest of the ongoing exploitation of Western Sahara’s natural resources, and their dire socio-economic situation, hundreds of Saharawi in the occupied territories have left their homes in the cities to live in tents in the desert.
Published 15 October 2010

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.

Published 13 October 2010
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Western Sahara Resource Watch calls upon the international community to appeal to Morocco to ensure a fair trial for human rights activists Ali Salem Tamek, Brahim Dahane and Ahmed Naciri.
Published 08 October 2010