The EU Commission still awaits more detailed information from Morocco on where proceeds go from fisheries off occupied Western Sahara, but Commissioner Maria Damanaki underlines that, according to the Commission, some activities do benefit the people there.
Ms. Damanaki’s statement was made in response to a question from Isabella Lövin, a Swedish Green member of the European Parliament’s Fisheries Committee.
Western Sahara, originally a Spanish colony, has been occupied by Morocco since 1975. The UN Security Council adopted a peace plan in 1991, but little has happened since, and few nations have recognised Morocco’s sovereignty claim as legitimate.
A controversial fisheries agreement between the European Union and Morocco went into effect in 2006. The agreement provides for the benefits to be transferred to the West Saharan people, 160,000 of which living in refugee camps since more than 30 years, but critics say there is no proof that such has been the case, and the European Parliament’s legal experts found last February that the agreement was contrary to international law.
In a written question dated February 5, Ms. Lövin asked the Commission if the issue of benefits to the Saharan people had been raised in joint committee meetings with Morocco, and whether the Commission was satisfied with that nation’s implementation.
In her reply on March 18, Ms. Damanaki said that the Commission has asked for detailed information on the subject, expected to be delivered “by the first quarter of 2010” (ending on March 31). “In any case, the Commission would like to underline that some activities of the sector support programme do benefit the people of Western Sahara, notably in the area of support to professional training”, she added.
In her personal blog on the Internet, Isabella Lövin said that she interpreted the answer as “we don’t know, and we haven’t bothered to ask”.