No state in the world has recognised the Moroccan annexation of Western Sahara. Still, the EU is paying millions of Euros annually to the Government of Morocco to allow EU vessels to fish in the waters of Western Sahara. The EU fisheries activities in Western Sahara must immediately come to an end.
Morocco continues to refuse to cooperate with the decolonization process in Western Sahara, thereby defying more than 100 UN resolutions that insist on the Saharawi people’s right to self-determination. Simultaneously, Moroccan authorities commit human rights violations against Sahrawis who voice their political views. No EU states, nor the UN, recognise the Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara.
In this context, cooperating with Morocco in exploiting Western Sahara’s natural resources is highly unethical, and clearly jeopardizes the UN’s efforts to find a peaceful solution to the conflict.
According to the UN, the natural resources in Western Sahara cannot be exploited without regard to the wishes and interests of the people of the territory. However, the EU is transferring European taxpayers’ money to the Government of Morocco for access to Western Saharan waters, without even consulting the Sahrawi people.
The EU has the legal and moral obligation to stop subverting the UN peace process in Western Sahara, by respecting the Sahrawi people’s right to self-determination over their land and their resources.
We urge the European Commission to put an immediate stop to the granting of all licenses to EU vessels fishing in Western Saharan waters, and we demand that no further EU fisheries operations take place in Western Sahara until a peaceful solution to the conflict has been found.
Yours sincerely,
Sign the petition!
The petition was published on 06.11.2009 and has now 18532 signatures.
The following individuals and organisations have signed the petition
Organisations (633):
[ 1 ] 2 3 4 Next Comhlámh, Ireland Culturfaceis-Associação Cultural para o Desenvolvimento, Portugal ALDCI-Associação Lusófona para o Desenvolvimento, Cultura e Integração, Portugal Colectivo Panteras Rosa, Portugal Associação Moçambique Sempre, Portugal ACOSP-Associação da Comunidade de S. Tomé e Príncipe, Portugal Exchange Dublin, Ireland Foro Galego de Inmigración, España A.S.A.L.A. (Asoc. Sociocultural Afrolatina), España The Norwegian Language Youth (Norsk Målungdom), Norway PeaceReporter, italy CSPRON (Sahrawi Commitee for Support to UN Resolution Plan and for Protection of Natural Resources in Western Sahara), Western Sahara Union Nationale des Syndicats de Travailleurs du Bénin (UNSTB), Benin Comité National de l*Equité /Genre (CONAEG), Benin Associazione Limone nel Verde Onlus, Roma Italia
[ 1 ] 2 3 4 Next Martha Arteaga, España Carmen Paredes Ordóñez, España Helge Steinsvåg, Norway Eva Bulling-Schröter, MP German Bundestag, Germany Michael D Higgins TD, Ireland Hanne Agersnap, MP, Socialist People*s Party, Denmark Rosa Díez González, Congreso de los Diputados, España Andrej Hunko, MP German Bundestag, DIE LINKE, Germany Gorka Maneiro Labayen, Diputado Parlamento Vasco, España Kathrin Vogler, Member of Parliament, Germany Ulrich Maurer , Germany Frank Tempel (Member of the German Bundestag), Germany Christine Buchholz, Germany Heidrun Dittrich, Germany Sabine Stüber, Germany
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.
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