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Human-rights concerns put Morocco fishing deal in danger
Agreement is supposed to benefit Western Sahara, but the Parliament has called on EU vessels to halt fishing.
A controversial fishing deal between the European Union and Morocco may lapse if the Moroccan government fails to produce evidence that the deal benefits people in the disputed Western Sahara region, Maria Damanaki, the European commissioner for fisheries, has warned.
Damanaki contacted the Moroccan government in February to ask for proof that the EU-Morocco fishing agreement benefits people who live in the disputed territory of the Western Sahara.
“They have to prove that the agreement gives real benefits to local people... If they do not give us the data then we will not have a protocol,” the commissioner said in an interview with European Voice.
The EU-Morocco fisheries partnership – a fish-for-cash exchange – was signed by Damanaki's predecessor, Joe Borg, in 2005. The EU will pay the Moroccan government €144 million over four years, until 2011, for the right to fish in Moroccan and Western Saharan waters.
But the inclusion of the territorial waters of Western Sahara has long concerned lawyers and human-rights campaigners. Morocco annexed the Western Saharan territory in 1978, a few years after the demise of Spain's colonial administration.
Estimates vary, but according to the European Commission, 90,000 Saharawi people live in refugee camps in harsh conditions without basic resources. The United Nations has repeatedly expressed concerns about human rights in Western Sahara.
A legal opinion from the European Parliament last year advised that the EU- Morocco deal did not conform with international law, because it ignored the rights of the Saharawi people to control their national resources. The Parliament's lawyers also called on EU vessels to stop fishing in Western Saharan waters.
The EU-Morocco deal is up for renewal in February 2011, putting pressure on the Commission to change the terms of the deal.
Suspension
Isabella Lövin, a Swedish Green MEP, said that a new agreement was urgently needed. “The present agreement is in violation of international law because it allows Morocco to sell resources that belong to the Western Saharawi people.”
She said that the “logical” solution would be for the agreement to be suspended or re-negotiated to exclude the waters of Western Sahara. “The EU is one of the most important political forces in the world and it should not strike agreements with countries that violate human rights,” she said.
Damanaki said she was concerned about the human-rights situation in the region.
The commissioner has promised to make human rights part of all future fishing agreements. “I think that we can improve the framework for the agreements [with] a new type of agreement that takes care of the human-rights situation.”
She maintains that the current EU-Morocco deal “provides real benefits to people, whatever their name”.
Sara Eyckmans, co-ordinator of Western Sahara Resource Watch, a private group, said she had not seen any evidence that the Saharawi people benefit from the agreement.
She said: “The Commission always tends to focus on benefits, but they never go into the question of the wishes [of the Saharawi people], which is central to international law.”
?
An interview with Maria Damanaki will appear in the next edition of European Voice.
By Jennifer Rankin
__________________
Agreement is supposed to benefit Western Sahara, but the Parliament has called on EU vessels to halt fishing.
A controversial fishing deal between the European Union and Morocco may lapse if the Moroccan government fails to produce evidence that the deal benefits people in the disputed Western Sahara region, Maria Damanaki, the European commissioner for fisheries, has warned.
Damanaki contacted the Moroccan government in February to ask for proof that the EU-Morocco fishing agreement benefits people who live in the disputed territory of the Western Sahara.
“They have to prove that the agreement gives real benefits to local people... If they do not give us the data then we will not have a protocol,” the commissioner said in an interview with European Voice.
The EU-Morocco fisheries partnership – a fish-for-cash exchange – was signed by Damanaki's predecessor, Joe Borg, in 2005. The EU will pay the Moroccan government €144 million over four years, until 2011, for the right to fish in Moroccan and Western Saharan waters.
But the inclusion of the territorial waters of Western Sahara has long concerned lawyers and human-rights campaigners. Morocco annexed the Western Saharan territory in 1978, a few years after the demise of Spain's colonial administration.
Estimates vary, but according to the European Commission, 90,000 Saharawi people live in refugee camps in harsh conditions without basic resources. The United Nations has repeatedly expressed concerns about human rights in Western Sahara.
A legal opinion from the European Parliament last year advised that the EU- Morocco deal did not conform with international law, because it ignored the rights of the Saharawi people to control their national resources. The Parliament's lawyers also called on EU vessels to stop fishing in Western Saharan waters.
The EU-Morocco deal is up for renewal in February 2011, putting pressure on the Commission to change the terms of the deal.
Suspension
Isabella Lövin, a Swedish Green MEP, said that a new agreement was urgently needed. “The present agreement is in violation of international law because it allows Morocco to sell resources that belong to the Western Saharawi people.”
She said that the “logical” solution would be for the agreement to be suspended or re-negotiated to exclude the waters of Western Sahara. “The EU is one of the most important political forces in the world and it should not strike agreements with countries that violate human rights,” she said.
Damanaki said she was concerned about the human-rights situation in the region.
The commissioner has promised to make human rights part of all future fishing agreements. “I think that we can improve the framework for the agreements [with] a new type of agreement that takes care of the human-rights situation.”
She maintains that the current EU-Morocco deal “provides real benefits to people, whatever their name”.
Sara Eyckmans, co-ordinator of Western Sahara Resource Watch, a private group, said she had not seen any evidence that the Saharawi people benefit from the agreement.
She said: “The Commission always tends to focus on benefits, but they never go into the question of the wishes [of the Saharawi people], which is central to international law.”
?
An interview with Maria Damanaki will appear in the next edition of European Voice.
By Jennifer Rankin
__________________
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