Check out this image from yesterday. Saharawis in Western Sahara are increasingly frustrated over the US oil company Kosmos Energy's plans to drill in the occupied territory of Western Sahara on behalf of the occupying power Morocco.
Western Sahara Resource Watch has been in contact with a number of civil society groups in Western Sahara over the last weeks to hear their views on the plans of Kosmos Energy to drill offshore the occupied Western Sahara later this year.
Has Kosmos or the Moroccan government ever tried to contact you to hear if this oil exploration is in accordance with your wishes?
The answer is a unanimous 'no'.
"Kosmos go home, Leave Western Sahara. Atwood, don't come here", the banners read, of a small gathering taking place in Boujdour Wednesday afternoon.
Among the people demonstrating, seen on the images, is human rights activist Sultana Khaya. She is blind on one eye following beating by police some years ago.
Frente Polisario, who represents the Saharawis in the UN peace talks with Morocco, has repeatedly condemned the plans of the company.
A UN legal opinion from 2002 states that further exploration would be illegal if the people of the territory are against it.
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Morocco occupies the major part of its neighbouring country, Western Sahara. Entering into business deals with Moroccan companies or authorities in the occupied territories gives an impression of political legitimacy to the occupation. It also gives job opportunities to Moroccan settlers and income to the Moroccan government. Western Sahara Resource Watch demands foreign companies leave Western Sahara until a solution to the conflict is found.
It's not easy keeping up with all the different legal proceedings relating to Western Sahara. For the sake of clarity, here's an overview of the three different cases at the Court of Justice of the European Union.
Leading activists from Western Sahara are condemned to sentences ranging from 20 years to life imprisonment in connection to a mass protest in 2010 denouncing the Saharawi people’s social and economic marginalization in their occupied land; the Gdeim Izik protest camp.
At COP22, beware of what you read about Morocco’s renewable energy efforts. An increasing part of the projects take place in the occupied territory of Western Sahara and is used for mineral plunder, new WSRW report documents.
