The EU is paying Morocco to fish in occupied Western Sahara. 799 organisations and 20.000 people signed this letter to the European Commission, 28 September 2010.
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.
This letter was sent to the European Commission on 28 September 2010, and it is now too late for you to sign. If your organisation still would like to join in our protests to the EU, please don't hesitate sending a short mail to coordinator@wsrw.org and we will discuss what we can do together. 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.
The petition was published on 06.11.2009 and has now 20547 signatures.
The petition is closed for signing
The following individuals and organisations have signed the petition
Organisations (804):
[ 1 ] 2 3 4 Next Rafto Foundation, Norway Finnish Peace Committee, Finland Sahara Fund, Inc. (USA), United States of America The United Nations Association of Norway, Norway Fair Trade Centrums.r.o., Czech Republic Voz do Operário, Portugal Universidade Popular do Porto, Portugal UMAR-União das Mulheres Alternativa e Resposta, Portugal URAP-União de Resistentes Antifascistas Portugueses, Portugal Tribunal-Iraque,Audiência Portuguesa, Portugal Teatro de Pesquisa e Arte "Mandrágora", Portugal Obra Católica Portuguesa de Migrações, Portugal Marcha Mundial pela Paz e Não Violência, Portugal SIRB-"Os Penicheiros", Barreiro, Portugal Revista Latitudes-Paris, Portugal
Individuals:
Latest signatures (Total 20547):
[ 1 ] 2 3 4 Next 07.10.2010 : Alejandro Forcades Pujol, España 06.10.2010 : Mika Sjöberg, Finland 06.10.2010 : Lee Hoo, China 06.10.2010 : Abdala Abdelhay Brahim, Spain 05.10.2010 : Mikko Ahvalo, Finland 05.10.2010 : Francisco Domínguez Arévalo, Spain 05.10.2010 : MAALOUMA, TARFAYA-MOROCCO 05.10.2010 : BERNISE SOUAD, MOROCCO 05.10.2010 : Nelly Bonelli, italy 03.10.2010 : Paz Arias, Spaim 03.10.2010 : emilio tallafet librero, sevilla 02.10.2010 : Maria Teresa Valiente Escriva, España 02.10.2010 : Arnau Artigas Gonzalez, España 02.10.2010 : Atticus Artigas Escolar, España 02.10.2010 : Aragorn Artigas Escolar, España 02.10.2010 : Albert Escolar Valiente, España 02.10.2010 : Natàlia Escolar Valiente, España 02.10.2010 : Brigitte Escolar Valiente, España 02.10.2010 : Mª Pau Vila Pastor, España 02.10.2010 : khadija abdeddaim, Dakhla, sahara occidental 02.10.2010 : Marta, España 02.10.2010 : Christian Jürgensen, Denmark 01.10.2010 : 3azizi Rafik, Maroc 01.10.2010 : Tomás Pellicer Lorca, España 01.10.2010 : Rafael Oses Primo, Spain 01.10.2010 : Nora Howard, USA 30.09.2010 : Abdou Sidi Mohamed, Mauritania 29.09.2010 : EVA PILAR CHAVES LARA, ESPAÑA 29.09.2010 : PABLO GONZÁLEZ PÉREZ-CRESPO, ESPAÑA 29.09.2010 : guendouz abderrahim, morocco
Francesco Bastagli, former Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General in Western Sahara, Italy Frank Ruddy, US Ambassador, Former Deputy Chairman of the UN Peacekeeping Mission for Western Sahara MINURSO, USA
Parliamentarians (162):
[ 1 ] 2 3 4 Next Guido Milana, MEP, Italy Senator Dan Boyle, Ireland Sabine Wils, MEP, Germany Patrícia Amarelo Domingues, Portugal Fontaine Daniel, Maire d*Aubagne, France Sabine Lösing, MEP, Germany Margrete Auken, MEP, Denmark Petra Bayr, Österreich Boden Karl, Austria Hansjörg Ernst , Switzerland Thomas Fritzsche, Deutschland Erkki Tuomioja, Finland Jacob Söderman, Finland Siv Holma, Sweden Rossana Dinamarca, Sweden
The EU considers to pay Morocco to fish in occupied Western Sahara. An EU-Morocco Fisheries Agreement from 2013 would be both politically controversial and in violation of international law.
The international Fish Elsewhere! campaign demands the EU to avoid such unethical operations, and go fishing somewhere else. No fishing in Western Sahara should take place until the conflict is solved.
