Call for Action: Fight the European Union's ocean-grabbing
Should the neo-colonial fisheries partnership be agreed upon, it would give economic and political support to the Moroccan regime's occupation of Western Sahara, while furthering imperial resource-grab
Western Sahara is currently being occupied by Morocco and has been so since 1975. On Monday 10 December the international solidarity network, Western Sahara Resource Watch, who works closely with Polisario Front, initiated a campaign to stop the European Union's attempt to renegotiate a Fisheries Partnership Agreement (FPA) with Morocco.
The FPA - in itself a neocolonial instrument in the guise of a 'partnership' - includes the resource-rich waters off the coast of Western Sahara. Should the FPA be agreed upon, it would give economic and political support to the Moroccan regime's occupation of Western Sahara, while furthering the imperial resource-grab of what rightfully belongs to the Saharawi people.
After a several years long campaign, a similar EU-Morocco FPA was rejected by the European Parliament in December 2011. If this happens again with the agreement currently being negotiated, we hope that this could be an important step in fighting the EU's pillage-and-plunder fisheries policy that rewards the European industrial fishing fleet, while undermining struggles for democracy, food sovereignty, climate- and social justice.
We urge you to show your solidarity with the Saharawis' on-going struggle for independence as well as your resistance against the EU's neo-colonial ocean-grabbing by supporting the campaign with your individual and/or your organisation’s signature here.
In solidarity,
Mads C. Barbesgaard, Board member, Africa Contact - Denmark // www.afrika.dk
Harald Sakarias Hansen, President, Spire - Norway // www.spireorg.no/english
Naseegh Jaffer, Co-Chairperson, World Forum of Fisher Peoples - International // representing millions of fishers and fish workers in approximately 40 different countries