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"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.

Published 09 May 2012
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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.

Published 02 May 2012
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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.

Published 26 April 2012
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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.

Published 25 April 2012
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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.

Published 18 April 2012
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Nick Clegg, UK Deputy Prime Minister, faces embarrassment after it was disclosed that his wife represents a firm that has been accused of trampling on the human rights of ‘Africa’s last colony’. A ‘substantial’ part of lawyer Miriam Clegg’s work, for which she is paid up to £500,000 a year, is understood to come from Moroccan mining giant OCP. The company is at the centre of international controversy over the treatment of the Sahrawi nomadic tribesmen of the Sahara.
Published 15 April 2012
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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.

Published 08 April 2012
No export credit will be given to Danish companies for projects in Western Sahara, according to the Danish Minister for Trade and Investment.
Published 08 April 2012
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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.

Published 08 April 2012
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Moroccan workers of the state-owned phosphate company, Office Chérifien des Phosphates (OCP), benefit from housing programmes. Their Saharawi colleagues say they don’t.
Published 05 April 2012
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Next month, Morocco’s human rights track record will be reviewed by the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. Western Sahara Resource Watch asks the international community to raise the Saharawi people's rights.
Published 02 April 2012
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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.

Published 21 March 2012

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.

Published 05 March 2012
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In June 2011, WSRW - together with other organisations - issued a first request to the European Commission, soliciting the independent evaluation report of the EU-Morocco Fisheries Partnership Agreement become part of the public domain. The Commission has now agreed to release the report. Read it here.
Published 05 March 2012
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The Irish company San Leon Energy has published a map on its webpages showing how they carried out oil search on occupied land.
Published 22 February 2012
Today, the European Parliament backed a revision of the Moroccan Free Trade Agreement, allowing for further liberalisation of Moroccan agricultural and fisheries products. The agreement fails to specify that it does not apply to Western Sahara.
Published 16 February 2012
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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

Published 15 February 2012
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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.

Published 14 February 2012
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French farmer and parliamentarian, José Bové states in an interview with Moroccan newspaper L'économiste that he will work hard to stop the agreement, which he calls "a disaster for the agriculture".
Published 02 February 2012
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The world’s biggest trawler and fish factory vessel have been operating in Western Sahara’s waters.

Published 30 January 2012
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The EU agriculture agreement must be stopped, according to Spanish farmers’ association.
Published 30 January 2012
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UN special envoy to Western Sahara states how the natural resources are currently the main topic of peace talks between Morocco and Polisario.
Published 29 January 2012

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.

Published 29 January 2012
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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.

Published 27 January 2012
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The Irish oil firm stated today that it had completed its seismic services in "Morocco". The release fails to mention that the exploration was in fact done in occupied Western Sahara. The UN states such search to be in violation of international law.
Published 24 January 2012
The leader of the Saharawi committee for protection of natural resources has spent 14 months in jail, as trial against him was postponed on January 13. Demonstrations and police violence erupt in Western Sahara following the decision.
Published 23 January 2012
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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.

Published 23 January 2012
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On 5 January, the European Commission issued a request to the EU Member States, seeking their support to conduct negotiations with Morocco in order to achieve a new, long-term fisheries protocol. The fishing zones covered by the envisioned accord also include Western Saharan waters.
Published 17 January 2012
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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.

Published 30 December 2011
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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.

Published 23 December 2011
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The Norwegian fertilizer firm Yara states their position remains unchanged, and that they do not purchase phosphates from Western Sahara. Yara's new agreement with Moroccan phosphate firm specifically excludes purchases from Western Sahara, according to the company.
Published 19 December 2011
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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

Published 16 December 2011
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The list of vessels active under the now repealed EU-Morocco fisheries agreement has just been released. Download the list here.
Published 16 December 2011

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.

Published 14 December 2011
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EU Fisheries Commissioner, Maria Damanaki, previously suggested EU fisheries agreement with Morocco should not apply to Western Sahara. Now, she repeats the message.
Published 14 December 2011
The tomato sector on the Canary Islands received with satisfaction the news that the European Parliament has turned down their fisheries agreement with Morocco and hopes that the agriculture agreement, “will follow the same steps and will be turned down once it is presented before the Plenary”. Europapress, 14 December 2011.
Published 14 December 2011
Email sent from Norwegian Support Commtitee for Western Sahara to Tripoliven.
Published 13 December 2011
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"Be part of the solution, not part of the problem", Saharawi human rights activist Ali Salem Tamek urged the European Parliament, criticizing the illegal EU plunder of the fisheries resources offshore occupied Western Sahara.
Published 08 December 2011
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Further EU fisheries in occupied Western Sahara "will make the EU and its member states further liable for a violation of international law", stated former principal legal advisor of the Swedish government, in a seminar in the European Parliament on 7 December 2011.
Published 08 December 2011
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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.

Published 08 December 2011
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The US-Mexican firm Innophos has imported phosphate rock from occupied Western Sahara for decades. As a new vessel is this week about to arrive Mexico from occupied territory, WSRW requests again about the trade.
Published 08 December 2011
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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.

Published 06 December 2011
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A cross-party seminar, entitled “The EU and Western Sahara: trading fish, ignoring rights?” will be held in the European Parliament, Wednesday 7 December.
Published 01 December 2011
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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.

Published 22 November 2011
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Today, the European Parliament's Development and Budget Committee both adopted an opinion calling on Parliament to reject the EU-Morocco fisheries agreement.
Published 07 November 2011

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.

Published 06 November 2011
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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.

Published 06 November 2011
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...At 28 kilometres east of town of Boujdour.
Published 06 November 2011
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Former UN Special Representative to Western Sahara, Francesco Bastagli, laments the European Parliament's lack of will to ask for a legal opinion on the EU fisheries agreement with Morocco.
Published 06 November 2011
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The shark population in occupied Western Saharan waters is under threat by Moroccan and European fishing. That is one of the many disturbing conclusions of the independent post-evaluation report on the EU's fish deal with Morocco.
Published 03 November 2011
The Australia Western Sahara Association (AWSA) and the Australian Unions for Western Sahara (AUWS) are set to challenge on Monday the arrival in Hobart of phosphate rock from Western Sahara saying it is unethical and illegal in international law.
Published 30 October 2011
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Leading figures from the Scottish fishing sector pled for the continuation of the EU-Morocco Fisheries Partnership Agreement, at a conference hosted by Scottish MEP Struan Stevenson last Thursday in Gibraltar.
Published 24 October 2011
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New vessels loaded with phosphate rock plundered from occupied Western Sahara are coming in to New Zealand ports.
Published 21 October 2011
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The rapporteur of the European Parliament’s Budget Committee recommends Parliament to reject the one-year extension of the EU-Morocco Fisheries Agreement. “Tax payers’ money needs to be spent wisely and legally”, he said.
Published 21 October 2011
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A firm called Teredo Morocco Ltd has got the right to explore for oil offshore Western Sahara in violation of international law. If you know the company, please send us a mail.

Published 20 October 2011
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The rapporteur of the European Parliament's development committee agrees with the rapporteur of the fisheries committee: Parliament should not accept the one-year extension of the fish deal with Morocco. "The right way to go is not in neglecting international law, principles of environmental sustainability or sound economics", she said.

Published 19 October 2011
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Sidahmed Lemjiyed, President of the Saharawi Committee for Protection of Natural Resourcs (CSPRON) was detained 25 December 2010 in El Aaiún. Since then, he has been imprisoned without being accused of a crime, and without having been before a court. According to an international group that visited Morocco this week, his health is deteriorating.

Published 16 October 2011
Association of the Bar of the City of New York urged the UN to react against the natural resources exploitation in the United Nations Special Political and Decolonization Committee, 6 October 2011.
Published 14 October 2011
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Sydney barrister is calling on three major Australian companies to stop their imports from occupied Western Sahara, saying the firms might be liable to future compensation claims from the people of the territory. ABC, 10 October 2011.

Read also: Australian Lawyer questions legality of phosphate imports

Published 10 October 2011
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The Australian Institute of International Affairs hosted an event in Melbourne on Wednesday 5th October on the issue of Western Sahara under the title: Western Sahara and its Phosphate Rock: is Australia in a Hard Place?

Published 10 October 2011
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A group of Spanish and Saharawi protesters yesterday demonstrated against the Canary imports of sand from occupied Western Sahara in the harbour of Santa Cruz, Tenerife.
Published 06 October 2011
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For decades, the Canary Islands have been importing sand from the occupied territory of Western Sahara. Although the imports went down during the financial crisis, the import has increased considerably during the last 10 years. Read the history of a theft which is hardly ever mentioned.
Published 05 October 2011
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The rapporteur of the Fisheries Committee of the European Parliament recommends that the EU drops its fisheries agreement with Morocco. “A waste of taxpayers' money, ecologically and environmentally unsustainable and no significant macro-economic effect”, he stated. 

Published 23 September 2011
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"I have no problem in stating, in retrospect, that it might have been a bad idea to take this assignment”, CEO of seismic services firm Spectrum ASA told media today. Now, Irish oil minor San Leon has to find another subcontractor to process the geological data they collect from the occupied territory in violation of international law.

Published 22 September 2011

While the European Union wouldn’t dream of importing Palestinian agricultural and fisheries products under the Free Trade Agreement with Israel, it appears to have far less problems with importing similar products from Western Sahara under the Free Trade Agreement with Morocco.

Published 15 September 2011
Anadarko (ex-Kerr-McGee) cooperates with Kosmos Energy. But does this cooperation cover works on occupied Western Sahara? WSRW awaits response.
Published 23 August 2011
The agreement signed between Kosmos and the Moroccan government for illegal oil exploration offshore occupied Western Sahara has been prolonged on several occasions.
Published 23 August 2011
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US oil company Kosmos Energy has signed a renewed petroleum agreement for offshore occupied Western Sahara. The new area reduces its illegal acreage off Western Sahara with a third.
Published 23 August 2011

Polish business newspaper erroneously placed Western Sahara within Morocco. Polish Africa group tries to rectify the error.

Published 14 August 2011
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The Irish firm San Leon disagrees with the UN and the Irish government. “They are not a representative people”, the firm stated to Irish national TV.
Published 08 August 2011
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A now sanctioned Gadaffi firm planned to look for oil in occupied Western Sahara. WSRW today asked Morocco to clarify the role of their Libyan partner.
Published 01 August 2011
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The Saharawis continue denouncing the plunder of their country. A few dozen dozens of Saharawis now gathered in front of the offices of the Moroccan human rights commission in occupied territory. 

 

Published 01 August 2011
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The Texas based company Kosmos Energy is today the only oil company working for Morocco offshore occupied Western Sahara. The exploration agreement is in violation of international law.
Published 29 July 2011
Published 21 July 2011
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San Leon’s seismic surveys will be conducted in the northern parts of occupied Western Sahara from July 2011, in violation of international law. Placements from investor George Soros might have been crucial.

Published 21 July 2011

Morocco is continuing its oil programme on the Boujdour onshore block. These cars were filmed as they did geological surveys in the occupied territories.

Published 20 July 2011
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Yesterday morning, 41 unemployed Saharawi fishermen took to the harbour of Dakhla, demanding to know why only fishermen from Agadir are employed on Russian vessels fishing in Saharan waters. The incident occurred when two Russian vessels – crewed exclusively by non-locals – had entered the local harbour.
Published 17 July 2011
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The Moroccan state owned oil company ONHYM has established new oil blocks in Western Sahara. The illegal programme could double the acreage in the occupied territory.

Published 17 July 2011
The Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs says he is aware of San Leon\'s engagement in Western Sahara, and presupposes they will respect international law.
Published 17 July 2011

Email to Longreach Oil and Gas Ltd, sent 8 July 2011.

Published 16 July 2011
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Today, the European Parliament’s agricultural committee issued its opinion that Parliament should refuse its consent to the conclusion of the agricultural agreement with Morocco. “The issue of the Western Sahara territories, with regard to which Parliament\'s legal services have been asked for an opinion, calls for careful assessment”, states the Committee’s report.

Published 12 July 2011

As the Moroccan authorities prohibit Saharawi from leaving the towns in order to prevent them from building protest camps in the desert, these five protesters have started a peaceful sit-in in front of their home on 7 July 2011. They call for the right to benefit from their homeland's abundant natural resources.

Published 09 July 2011
Member states back fishing deal, despite no proof of benefits for occupied Western Sahara.
Published 08 July 2011
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Three fishermen associations registered in Dakhla, occupied Western Sahara, say they've not seen any benefits stemming from investments and projects at the local harbour. Ironically, their statement comes only a few days after the EU Member States' split vote approval of the much debated one-year extension of the EU Morocco fish pact – claiming the investments under the agreement are beneficial to the local population.

Published 08 July 2011
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Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs underlines that the wishes of the Sahrawis must be taken into account upon undertaking business in the territory of Western Sahara.

Published 02 July 2011
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Despite an unseen division on the issue, a slim majority in the Council assured the one-year prolongation of the controversial EU-Morocco fisheries agreement. Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands, Finland, the UK, Cyprus and Austria could not agree to the proposal.
Published 30 June 2011
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In a debate in the Danish Parliament 23 June, Danish government repeats that it will object to the EU fisheries in Western Sahara.
Published 24 June 2011
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“We urge businesses to stay away from the territory since we do not recognise the annexation of Western Sahara\" stated Norway\'s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Friday. An opening to invest in the \"illegitimately annexed\" territory is given under the condition it benefits the local population - “and with the local population we of course refer to the Sahrawi people”, said the Deputy Minister.
Published 22 June 2011
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Another demonstration in the capital of occupied Western Sahara took place yesterday. Moroccan police prevented people from joining the protesters.

Published 22 June 2011
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Evaluations of fisheries agreements are kept secret. 24 NGOs, including Western Sahara Resource Watch, request full disclosure of these documents.
Published 21 June 2011

2 Swedish students insist that the EU ambassador to Rabat had no reason to claim that "independent institutions" have supported the EU fisheries in Western Sahara, as he claimed in a press conference last year. Their correspondence with the EU delegation to Morocco reveals that the ambassador was only refering to the EU itself.

Published 14 June 2011

While the UN hosted peace talks between Morocco and Polisario in the US last week, a large load of illegally excavated Saharawi phosphates was being discharged in Louisiana. The peace talks covered the management of natural resources of occupied Western Sahara. The UN says such trade is in violation of international law, but PotashCorp defends Morocco\'s claims to the territory.

Published 13 June 2011

Spanish fish food company Jealsa Rianxeira receives ever more critisicm for its engagement in occupied Western Sahara.

Published 12 June 2011
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Russian media reports today that an agreement has been signed between Moscow and Rabat for catch of 100.000 tonnes of fish offshore Morocco. Most of the fisheries, however, will not take place in Morocco.

Published 10 June 2011
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The most heavily involved foreign firm in occupied Western Sahara, US-Canadian fertiliser company PotashCorp, has published a statement on its trade and on how it interprets the Western Sahara conflict. Read their erroneous text, and WSRW’s comments.

Published 08 June 2011

UPDATE - The hunger strike was ended on Saturday 18 June 2011.
Since 12 April, six Saharawi citizens in Guelmim in Southern Morocco have been on hunger strike to condemn the EU’s fisheries in occupied Western Sahara and the involvement of US phosphate importer PCS and Irish oil company San Leon in the plunder of the territory.
 

Published 08 June 2011
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The legal process against Swedish fishermen for allegedly illegal fisheries offshore Western Sahara, has been postponed. The case is now appealed to the Supreme Court of Sweden.
Published 06 June 2011
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The Lithuanian firm Lifosa refused to answer the question whether they intend to terminate phosphate imports from Western Sahara, and was today kicked out of the UN Global Compact initiative on Corporate Social Responsibility.

Published 03 June 2011
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There is no unequivocal proof that Western Sahara, let alone its people, has benefitted from the EU-Morocco fisheries partnership agreement (FPA), according to the Irish government.

Published 02 June 2011
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For 50 days, six Saharawi citizens in Guelmim have been on hunger strike to denounce Morocco’s illegal exploitation of Saharawi natural resources. Their health condition is alarming.
Published 02 June 2011