Despite warnings from various quarters that its actions are illegal and ethically questionable under international law, the Swiss company Glencore has been searching for oil in the Moroccan-occupied Western Sahara for several years. Now the turning point: Glencore is withdrawing from the disputed territory.
Press release - Basel 11 May 2017
Morocco has occupied Western Sahara since 1975. According to the UN, it is a non-self-governed territory in which the exploitation of resources is only permitted under international law if the population concerned has given its prior consent and benefits from it. Consultation with the Sahrawi people has never taken place and hardly any jobs are created for the Sahrawi people. Resources are exploited by Moroccan and foreign companies. Unemployed Sahrawi people keep drawing attention to their difficult situation by demonstrations in the occupied territories.
Swiss and international non-governmental organizations have long drawn the company's attention to the problems of oil exploration in this area. Swiss parliamentarians also raised the question of the legality of these activities.
Agreements with Morocco do not apply to Western Sahara
Glencore owned licenses for two blocks, Foum Ognit and Boujdour Offshore Shallow, and continued to conduct seismic studies there until March of this year. Last November 2016, Glencore replied to a question from several members of parliament that its exploration activities were in accordance with international law. However, an expert opinion by legal advisor Hans Corell for the UN Security Council in 2002 clearly refutes this. It states that further oil exploration without prior consultation of the population is contrary to international law.
In the meantime, a decision of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) of 21 December 2016 once again confirms the international legal situation. In a ruling on the trade agreement between Morocco and the EU, the highest European court ruled that Western Sahara was not included in this agreement because Western Sahara did not belong to the Kingdom of Morocco but was an independent territory. Western Sahara is legally referred to as a third party, which is an independent negotiating partner for any agreements. The decision had led to legal uncertainty for companies. The European Commission is now working to implement the legal decision.
Hot Iron Western Sahara
Now Glencore has withdrawn from Foum Ognit and stopped searching for oil. The company also intends to withdraw from the second Boujdour block. Glencore has apparently sold its 18.75 percent stake to New Age (registered in New Jersey), which owns 75 percent of the drilling license for the Foum Ognit block. The remaining 25 percent is owned by the state-owned Moroccan company ONHYM.
This is an extremely important step for the Sahrawis in the occupied territory and in the refugee camps in southern Algeria. "The economic activities and exploitation of resources by foreign companies are hampering the UN peace process and contributing to the extremely difficult situation of the Sahrawi people. While the Sahrawi people in the refugee camps are 100 percent dependent on the ever decreasing international aid supplies, foreign companies profit from the trade in resources that legally belong to the Sahrawi people", says Sylvia Valentin of terre des hommes schweiz. terre des hommes schweiz has been supporting youth projects in the Sahrawi refugee camps for years.
Contacts:
Sylvia Valentin, terre des hommes switzerland
E-mail: sylvia.valentin@www.terredeshommesschweiz.ch
