"People live in a horrible situation because of the Australian companies that come to Western Sahara to steal our natural resources", Saharawi Malak Amidane stated in Australian national TV.
A group of unemployed Saharawi fishermen is said to have chained themselves to a foreign owned trawler in the harbour of Dakhla, protesting the plunder of their country.
The EU Member States have decided to back the European Commission’s suggestion to negotiate a ‘Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement’ with Morocco. The development could have further consequences for trade with Western Sahara, warns WSRW.
Last Friday, Morocco announced its willingness to engage in a new fisheries agreement with the European Union. "The talks must respect international law, and should be immediately halted until the Saharawi have given its consent", stated WSRW.
Responsible Investor - Siemens, the German industrial giant, is facing scrutiny from environmental, social and governance (ESG) research house GES Investment Services over a wind farm project in the disputed Western Sahara.
The Dutch trading company Nidera will take the issue of Western Sahara “into consideration” if confronted with another need to import to the Latin American country.
The US oil company Anadarko (ex-Kerr-McGee) said they have no role in the development of the Kosmos Energy's block offshore Western Sahara.
The Moroccan state-owned oil company ONHYM continues to promote the uranium potential of occupied Western Sahara. WSRW believes that the Romanian geophysical research company Prospectiuni is involved in the ground work.
Siemens’s African division in Denmark has signed a contract for delivery of wind turbines to Morocco-occupied Western Sahara. The indigenous population has not been consulted, as prescribed by the UN. Danwatch, 4 March 2012.
Siemens Energy has initiated a dangerous path for its internationalization strategy. Beginning of February, the company secured its first wind turbine orders on land occupied by Morocco.
Read also: Danwatch: Siemens’s Danish Division Signs Contract to Occupied Land
The new WSRW report ‘Conflict Tomatoes’, launched today, reveals massive growth in the Moroccan agriculture industry in occupied Western Sahara and its trade to the EU.
The world’s biggest trawler and fish factory vessel have been operating in Western Sahara’s waters.
A new EU trade agreement that is set to boost the personal fortune of King Mohamed VI of Morocco is facing opposition because it promotes the exploitation of disputed territory of the Western Sahara. Source: The Telegraph, 29 Jan 2012.
The Moroccan state electricity company has launched a tender for the construction of 5 wind farms. Two of those farms will be located in occupied Western Sahara.
The US lobby firm K&L Gates has for a year and a half been lobbying the issue of Western Sahara on behalf of a US-Mexican company that imports phosphates from the occupied territory.
During the days before Christmas, a vessel owned by the Danish shipping company Lauritzen set off from Western Sahara, occupied by Morocco. According to the UN, the Moroccan phosphate exploitation is illegal. By DanWatch, 30 Dec 2011.
FMC Corporation states that they have stopped importing phosphates from Western Sahara to Spain and that they should never have been kicked out of the Norwegian government's pension fund for lack of ethics.
This week, the EU pulled its fleet out of Western Sahara, a territory largely occupied by Morocco. The Russian industrial trawlers should follow the European example, Western Sahara Resource Watch (WSRW) demanded today. Press release, WSRW, 16 Dec 2011.
See images of the Russian fleet in Western Sahara
The EU fisheries in Western Sahara have today been voted down in the European Parliament. Reports made for the European Commission have shown that the EU fisheries in Western Sahara are a complete waste of EU taxpayers’ money, and contribute to destruction of marine life offshore Western Sahara. EU fleet must now return from Western Sahara.
Covington & Burling, the US lobby law firm that lobbies for the Moroccan phosphate trade from occupied territory of Western Sahara travelled all the way to Oslo to explain to an investor how the Saharawis supposedly benefit from the trade. Still, the firm refuse to talk to Saharawis or civil society about the industry.
The Norwegian government today announced it has sold 256 million Euros of shares in the two US-Canadian firms PCS and FMC due to their imports from Western Sahara.
British oil firm Longreach Oil & Gas yesterday announced that they are currently undertaking seismic studies in occupied Western Sahara. The studies are carried out in violation of international law.
The vessel 'Allegra' was on 3 November 2011 observed discharging phosphate rock in Tasmania, Australia. The cargo originates from occupied Western Sahara. See video of the operation here.
Settlers from Morocco cultivate lucrative quantities of tomatoes and melons at the King of Morocco's plantation in Dakhla, occupied Western Sahara. Faced with incessant job-cuts, these workers are currently staging a protest in Casablanca. Nipping further protests in the bud, the authorities have promised them their jobs back.