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Illegal exploitation of Sahrawi phosphate: Polisario Front launches court battle against two New Zealand firms

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Wellington, 20 June 2020 (SPS) - The Polisario Front is determined to launch a “court battle” against two New Zealand firms which continue to invest illegally in the Sahrawi territories and to import phosphate ore of Western Sahara occupied by Morocco since 1975.
The Polisario Front lodged last March a formal complaint at the Supreme Court of New Zealand to prevent the pension fund of New Zealand from investing illegally in the occupied Sahrawi territories.
The Polisario Front and a New Zealand Association “will go to the Supreme Court of New Zealand to advocate against the investments and importation of phosphate from these companies in the occupied territories” said Tuesday New Zealand’s paper Stuuf.
The representation of the Polisario Front in Australia and New Zealand underlined that it  brings the case of the New Zealand’s Pension Fund to the jurisdictions of New Zealand so as to “stop importing Western Sahara’s phosphate”, denouncing “New Zealand and Australia which seek to grow rich from the natural resources of an occupied territory without its people’s consent.”
New Zealand’s firms, namely Ravensdown and Balance Agri-Nutrients, import around USD30 million of Sahrawi phosphate every year for the needs of the farms in New Zealand.
The Polisario Front warned, in a note published recently, that  these investments “damage the reputation of New Zealand as a responsible country within the international community.”
“The Sahrawi people are committed to protecting their natural resources by all available means. This legal action is a clear message to all those who are involved in the exploitation of the Sahrawi natural resources,” said Sahrawi representative in Australia and New Zealand Kamel Fadel. (SPS)
062/SPS/APS