Media release - Fertilizer producer EuroChem, headquartered in Zug, Switzerland, received a shipload of phosphate rock from Western Sahara in Estonia in October. Phosphate mining in the occupied Western Sahara violates international law. Importing the phosphate rock from the former Spanish colony is therefore unethical and the company is acting without credibility.
In 2016, EuroChem announced that it would no longer buy phosphate rock from Western Sahara "in the foreseeable future". terre des hommes schweiz and the organization Western Sahara Resource Watch are calling on the Zug-based company to immediately stop importing phosphate from Western Sahara to Europe.
It would be legally compliant if the Sahrawis themselves could decide on the extraction of natural resources in Western Sahara. Western Sahara, land of the Sahrawis, has been largely occupied by Morocco since 1975.
Arrival of the phosphate confirmed
On October 16, the freighter "Nazenin" sailed into the port of Sillamäe, an Estonian coastal town on the Baltic Sea. On board was phosphate rock from the Western Sahara. EuroChem owns a terminal in Sillamäe with a fertilizer factory and logistics services to Russia and Europe.
The Estonian news portal "Delfi" reported on the incident on November 1. A local EuroChem employee confirmed to journalist Martin Laine, author of the article, that the phosphate had arrived at EuroChem in Sillamäe; his further questions remained unanswered, the journalist told Western Sahara Resource Watch.
Empty promises
It is not new that EuroChem is importing the conflict mineral to Europe. Until five years ago, the globally active company shipped phosphate rock from Western Sahara to Lithuania for the company Lifosa, which belongs to EuroChem. Following pressure from non-governmental organizations, EuroChem announced in 2016 that it would no longer trade in the raw material from Western Sahara.
On February 12, 2016, EuroChem wrote to Western Sahara Resource Watch: "[...] the Group does not intend to purchase phosphate rock from Western Sahara in 2016 or any time over the foreseeable future". Nevertheless, the company imported phosphate from Western Sahara to Europe again in the same year. Since then, EuroChem has repeatedly affirmed - most recently in 2020 - that it no longer plans such imports.
"Credibility lost"
"EuroChem is losing the last bit of credibility with this renewed import of conflict phosphate to Europe," says Sylvia Valentin from terre des hommes schweiz, Western Sahara expert and contact person for Western Sahara Resource Watch in Switzerland. "EuroChem's statements on corporate responsibility are obviously not binding."
"Swiss companies operating in Western Sahara without the consent of the Sahrawi people are supporting the status quo of the occupation. They are partly responsible for the fact that the grueling conflict over the last colony in Africa remains unresolved," says Sylvia Valentin of terre des hommes schweiz. Morocco has occupied most of Western Sahara, ancestral territory of the Sahrawi people, since 1975.
UN legal opinion
One of the international foundations is a UN legal opinion from 2002, according to which the extraction of natural resources in Western Sahara violates international law if this is done against the will and interests of the Sahrawi people.
The Sahrawis have repeatedly spoken out against phosphate mining in Western Sahara via their internationally recognized representative Frente Polisario. The right to dispose of their own resources is closely linked to the right to self-determination, which the Sahrawis have been denied for decades.
What EuroChem says
The latest transport of conflict phosphate by EuroChem to a European country is controversial. It was only at the end of September that the European Court of Justice declared the free trade and fisheries agreement between the EU and Morocco invalid, as it included Western Sahara without any legal basis. "This has increased the risk of compensation claims against companies operating in Western Sahara," says Sylvia Valentin from terre des hommes schweiz.
EuroChem is owned by the billionaire entrepreneur Andrei Melnichenko. The company did not wish to comment on the specific facts of the case to terre des hommes schweiz either, but it is important to note its view: "We view compliance as a guiding principle of our business, and act in accordance with the relevant national and international laws throughout our operations.»
terre des hommes switzerland and the Western Sahara
terre des hommes schweiz empowers young people in Africa, Latin America and Switzerland. The Swiss development organization is committed to the political and economic self-determination of the Sahrawis and is the contact point for Western Sahara Resource Watch in Switzerland.
terre des hommes schweiz supports the project and information work of a center for young people and their families in Smara. The Sahrawi refugee camp Smara is located in the western Algerian desert.
In the photo above: The freighter "Nazenin" in the Estonian port of Sillamäe on October 18, 2021. photo Western Sahara Resource Watch
Left:
Western Sahara campaign terre des hommes switzerland:
https://www.terredeshommesschweiz.ch/westsahara
News Western Sahara Resource Watch:
https://wsrw.org/en/news/first-eu-imports-of-conflict-minerals-in-5-years
Article Newsportal "Delfi", Estonia:
