Why does the EU waste their taxpayers' money - 144 million euros - on giving it to the Government of Morocco in order to fish in waters which are not Moroccan?
Morocco claims the territory of Western Sahara, but it has never laid any claim to its bordering waters.
In this regard, the international law of the sea is quite clear: Morocco cannot be considered to be the legitimate authority for Western Saharan waters.
While there are certain laws and regulations regarding fishing activities in international waters, none of them include paying a government to have access to waters which are not theirs.
And yet, via the EU-Moroccan fisheries agreement, the EU pays Morocco 144 million euros to fish in what surely must be considered non-Moroccan waters. Even in absence of a worldwide recession, this would be nothing less than a squander.
Morocco in this way receives ample financial support, allowing it to continue the illegal occupation of its neighbouring state.
Further underlining the EU's strange decision, the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic has declared an Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) over the same Western Saharan waters, thereby officially claiming its exclusive rights on the oil, gas and fisheries resources offshore the disputed territory. If any agreement were to be signed regarding the fish offshore Western Sahara, the other party of the agreement should have been the government of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, not Morocco.
The EU is paying Morocco to fish in occupied Western Sahara. The EU-Morocco Fisheries Agreement is both politically controversial and in violation of international law.
The international Fish Elsewhere! campaign demands the EU to cancel its highly unethical operations, and go fishing somewhere else. No fishing in Western Sahara should take place until the conflict is solved.
