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Photo Credit: AP/Paul Schemm
Paul Schemm, of the Associated Press, reported that Moroccan police clashed with Sahrawi protesters in Western Sahara. The demonstrations were reportedly over a new fishing accord between Morocco and the European Union. The agreement gives the EU access to Moroccan waters for $55 million a year with the richest fishing reportedly being off the coast of Western Sahara. Schemm noted that protesters “calling for independence from Morocco were chased through the streets of the city,” and, “By nightfall, the demonstrations had spread to other neighborhoods of the city and degenerated into stone throwing clashes between youths and police.” Local hospitals reported that at least 90 protesters sustained injuries and the governor’s office said 35 members of the security forces were hurt. A foreign journalist on the scene was stopped several times by police to prevent him from covering the protests and nearly had his camera taken away, Schemm indicated.
Agence France-Presse reports that the demonstrations began in the Laayoune city center with people chanting, ”stop taking our resources.” According to AFP, Hamoud Iguilid of the Moroccan Association of Human Rights suggested, “the protesters were heavily outnumbered by police, who attacked them with batons, beating and injuring many of them.” AFP noted that Morocco’s exploitation of Western Saharan resources has been a major dispute between the Moroccan government and Sahrawis. Erik Hagen, the head of the international lobbying group Western Sahara Resource Watch, argues, “The Sahrawi community is boiling over with frustration vis-à-vis the EU,” and noted, ”According to international law and a legal opinion by the UN, the people of the territory must consent to deals in the territory of Western Sahara… The EU accord would be a slap in the face for human rights and peace in Western Sahara.”
