WESTERN SAHARA LIBERATION MOVEMENT CONCERNS OVER HUMAN RIGHTS AND IRISH FIRMS IN SAHARA

Polisario meets Sinn Féin in the Dáil

THE ‘ambassador’ to Europe of Polisario, the Western Sahara independence movement representing half a million people living under the control of Morocco, has met Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams and Foreign Affairs spokesperson Pádraig Mac Lochlainn in Leinster House seeking international support.
Sinn Féin has been a long-standing supporter of the Polisario Front, which has been fighting for independence since the 1970s.
Since 1979, the Polisario Front - outlawed by Morocco - has been recognised by the United Nations as the representative of the people of Western Sahara.
A fortnight ago, Sinn Féin met Mohamed Beissat, Polisario’s representative in Europe, and Fadli Ahmed, Polisario’s deputy representative to Ireland.
Three serious issues were highlighted by the Polisario representatives during the meeting which Pádraig Mac Lochlain is bringing to the attention of Foreign Affairs Minister and Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore.
Sinn Féin is asking why Ireland supported the proposed extension in February of an EU fishing agreement that, Polisario says, legitimises Morocco’s annexation of the disputed Western Sahara region to the south of the country. The movement’s secretary general, Mohamed Abdelaziz, has branded this as “seemingly oblivious to the democratic fervour sweeping across the Middle East and the Maghreb”.
Britain, Germany, Sweden, Denmark and Finland all opposed the extension but Ireland supported it. The extension is due to be voted on in the European Commission within the next few weeks.
Pádraig Mac Lochlainn is also concerned about reports that an Irish corporation, the San Leon Energy company, is one of only a very few remaining oil companies that continue to operate illegally in the Western Sahara.
Campaign group Western Sahara Resource Watch says on its website:
“San Leon works in total disregard of the UN legal advice and of the wishes of the people living in the occupied territory. The firm has signed agreements with the Moroccan Government for oil exploration on the occupied land. The company has, however, never consulted representatives of the Saharawis, which the UN prescribes.”
On a broader humanitarian level, Sinn Fein is asking the Irish Government to address the issue of the illegal detention and reports of torture and sexual abuse of detainees being carried out on a daily basis in the Western Sahara by Moroccan officials.

• An Phoblacht will carry a feature on the Polisario struggle in the Western Sahara in a future edition.