The international campaign, Western Sahara is not for sale (WSNS), has published a manifesto asking for support from the international community.
Support the manifesto through the following link: https://www.westernsaharaisnotforsale.org/manifesto/
MANIFESTO “Our country, our resources: STOP the exploitation of Western Sahara’s natural resources ”.
The Moroccan occupation of Western Sahara has lasted for 45 years, during which the fundamental rights of the Saharawi people have been trampled with impunity, through systematic abuse, the construction of an apartheid wall that claims the lives of Saharawis every day, and the systematic exploitation of the natural resources of Western Sahara, in violation of all international resolutions.
On November 13, 2020, we witnessed the renewed armed conflict in the region after Morocco disregarded the ceasefire signed in 1991 under the auspices of the United Nations.
As a Saharawi civil society organization and based on the results of the international civil resistance conference “Sahara Rise”, which took place in February 2018 in the Wilaya of Smara, in the Sahrawi refugee camps, we promote the international campaign against the exploitation of natural resources in Western Sahara “Sahara is not for sale”.
This campaign is based on a vision and principles aimed at ending foreign investment in occupied Western Sahara by multinational corporations that contribute to the systematic exploitation of Sahrawi resources by Morocco.
One of the main goals of the campaign is to raise awareness and mobilize international civil society to increase the pressure on the Moroccan occupation state so that the regime and its colonial project will lose popular and economic support, which will inevitably lead to the end of the illegal occupation of Western Sahara.
The campaign is an initiative led by civil society organizations in different parts of the world: in the occupied territories, in the refugee camps, and in the diaspora, to help denounce the illegal practices of the Moroccan occupation and their violations of the fundamental rights of the Sahrawis as well as the very negative ones. And, to highlight the negligent role of some foreign companies involved in the illegal exploitation of the resources of Western Sahara, and what this means in terms of material and political support for the illegal Moroccan occupation and thus for the continuation of their systematic violations of the rights of the Sahrawi people.
The campaign targets foreign companies involved in the violation of international law by entering into contracts and agreements with the Moroccan occupying state to carry out projects in occupied Western Sahara or to participate in the transport or import of Sahrawi products.
For all of these reasons, we demand with this campaign :
- The immediate cessation of all types of foreign investment in occupied Western Sahara and the withdrawal of companies that are contributing to the exploitation of natural resources and the spread of the conflict.
- The demolition of the wall of humiliation that divides Western Sahara in half.
- Morocco’s submission to international law and an end to its illegal occupation of Western Sahara.
- The taking of measures by states and organizations to put pressure on Morocco in various forms, including boycotts, to end its occupation of Western Sahara and thus enable the Sahrawis to lead a normal life in freedom and dignity.
Background
Western Sahara is not for sale ”(WSNS) is an international campaign against the exploitation of natural resources in Western Sahara, led by various organizations from the Saharawi civil society, the occupied territories, the refugee camps and the diaspora.
WSNS emerged from the international conference “Sahara Rise” (deida uld Yazid) on nonviolent civil resistance, which took place in the Saharawi refugee camps in February 2018, with the aim of putting an end to the operations of foreign companies and their illegal exploitation of natural resources in occupied Western Sahara.
With this initiative, we want to give a voice to the Saharawi people who are resisting the exploitation of their natural resources and make their suffering in the occupied territories visible due to the systematic oppression and in the refugee camps due to the conditions of exile and flight.
The mobilization of the international community and civil society organizations is essential to increase the pressure on the Moroccan occupying state to make its expansion campaign unprofitable (neither economically nor in terms of population) and to end its illegal occupation of Western Sahara. »
Translation by Lulith V., from the voluntary Pressenza translation team. We are looking for volunteers!
