Saharawi fishermen denied access to the Boujdour harbour
In the morning of 10 January, the Moroccan authorities forcefully prevented 70 young Saharawi fishermen from entering Boujdour’s harbour and the fish market.
Police cars surrounding the harbour’s entry-point blocked the Saharawi fishermen from getting to their boats. The Saharawi’s ensuing protest led to confrontations with the Moroccan police, allegedly backed by Moroccan settlers who referred to the Saharawi fishermen as ‘strangers’. Western Sahara Resource Watch has received mobile photos of the Saharawi being stopped by the police.
To settle things, the Moroccan appointed Governor to Boujdour, Mr. Elaarbi Etwaijar, had to come down. Etwaijar maintained that the Saharawi fishermen were excluded because they don’t possess the necessary licenses to fish. He went on to say that the Saharawi’s arriving in group also hindered the functioning of the port system.
Moroccan settlers were reported saying that they will expel ‘those strangers’ if the police doesn’t.
Eyewitnesses, such as the Saharawi ex-political prisoner Sidi Haiba Hbibi, state that Moroccan settlers were gathering in front of the harbour, carrying knifes and other weapons, yet the police made no attempt to stop them. Haiba Hbibi is convinced that this kind of behavior against the native Saharawi population will end in another bloodbath, similar to the recent events in the Gdaim Izik camps and the police’s crash of subsequent peaceful protests in Saharawi cities.
Another Saharawi who used to work in the fish market says that just last Saturday, 38 ton of octopus was exported from Boujdour. To him, this confirms the Moroccan authorities’ attrition of the natural resources of Western Sahara, without any benefit for the territory’s local population, the Saharawi.
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.
