Protests were held up in Strasbourg, in front of the European Parliament, in the Saharawi refugee camps in Algeria, Mauretania and in Laayoune, the largest city in Western Sahara. Saharawi activists and lawyers and the Polisario Front condemned the EU-Morocco trade agreement, which includes the occupied territory of Western Sahara and opposes the Saharawi independence and sovereignty over its natural resources. They condemn the EU supporting the Moroccan occupation in its plundering of the Saharawi wealth.
The participants call out „that the Saharawi people will not cede their permanent sovereignty over their territory and natural resources. No one has the right to negotiate on behalf of the Saharawi people, except with their sole and legitimate representative, the Frente POLISARIO.“. A 27-year old media activists from Laayoune compared the deal with the tradition of European imperialism in Africa: „It was clear message from the Europeans that no international body will end our suffering“. The imperialists of the EU have great interest in the resources of Western Sahara. The territory is rich in phosphates, there is a lot of fish in the sea and they have oil. Many of the international companies, waiting for the people of Western Sahara to give up their struggle, to make a „deal“ with Morocco, are European companies. Most of the country is still occupied by the Moroccan military, which now wants to open the doors for the European companies, the imperialists, to further exploit the peoples and national resources of Western Sahara.
98 Saharawi associations called on the European Members of Parliament to vote against the trade agreement. Here again the European Union shows it’s real antidemocratic and imperialist face, not accepting sovereignty and independence, instead trying to make more and more profit on the shoulder of the Saharawi peoples. But the people resist, only in one year 2016, 776 demonstrations of protest were held against the occupation in Western Sahara. Now they also see clearly, that no imperialist force will help them struggling against the occupation. On the contrary, the struggle against occupation, is a struggle against imperialism.
