The Swedish organisation Emmaus Stockholm has decided to support the work of WSRW for 2013.
The annual member meeting of Emmaus Stockholm, a solidarity organisation in Sweden, decided this week to support Western Sahara Resource Watch with a generous amount of 65700 Swedish kroners (approx 7500 Euros). The financial support will be used by WSRW in trying to stop the EU's illegal trade agreements with Morocco covering the occupied territory of Western Sahara.
Most crucially, the EU is from 2013 trying to renew a fisheries agreement offshore Western Sahara.
"By failing to involve the Saharawi people already during the negotiations, the EU's fisheries talks with Morocco already undermines international law and the UN peace efforts. We thank Emmaus Stockholm for the support in the international struggle to raise awareness about the EU's role in prolonging the sufferings of the Saharawi people. Morocco is not in a position to negotiate with the EU for the fish stocks in a territory which is not Moroccan", stated chair of WSRW, Erik Hagen.
Emmaus also supported the WSRW's work in funding the writing of the report Label and Liability on the EU-Morocco free trade agreement that entered into force 1 October 2012.
The legal advisory firm Global Diligence, which presents itself as expert on ‘heightened due diligence’, misrepresents international law in occupied Western Sahara.
In a hearing at the European Parliament earlier this week, lawmakers expressed outrage at how the Commission sidestepped them to push through a new agreement covering occupied Western Sahara, in violation of EU Court rulings.
As EU ambassadors give their green light to a new Morocco trade deal, the public is still denied access to the very agreement they are voting on - a striking case of secrecy in Brussels.
A wave of reactions is rippling across Europe following the news that the EU is moving ahead with a new trade agreement in occupied Western Sahara. The vote is scheduled for tomorrow.