Shaheed El Hafed (Sahrawi Refugee Camps) 2 August 2025 (SPS) – The Sahrawi Observatory for the Monitoring of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection has launched a documentary series titled "Partners in Occupation" to expose multinational companies complicit with the Moroccan occupation in looting the resources of the Sahrawi people.
In this regard, the head of the Sahrawi Observatory, Yaqout Al-Mukhtar, stated in an interview with APS that "this weekly series aims to shed light on the involvement of multinational companies in supporting Morocco’s illegal occupation of Western Sahara through economic activities that violate international law and infringe upon the rights of the Sahrawi people."
She added that the Observatory’s first episode focuses on the French company ENGIE, which plays a central role in implementing energy and infrastructure projects in the occupied Sahrawi territories without the consent of the Sahrawi people—a direct violation of European Court of Justice rulings and the fundamental principles of international humanitarian law.
The Sahrawi official emphasized that "the participation of ENGIE and other companies in such economic activities is not merely a commercial investment but direct complicity in entrenching the occupation, plundering resources, and depriving the Sahrawi people of their inalienable rights, foremost among them the right to self-determination and permanent sovereignty over their wealth."
She noted that this series is part of the Observatory’s ongoing efforts to expose the economic networks supporting Morocco’s settler colonialism, raise international public awareness about the economic crimes committed against the Sahrawi people, and advocate for the boycott of complicit companies as both a moral and legal imperative.
Ms. Al-Mukhtar stressed that protecting Western Sahara’s natural resources requires activating practical mechanisms, including systematically monitoring and documenting economic violations, pressuring concerned governments to hold their national companies accountable, utilizing international legal tools to sue companies in domestic and international courts, building alliances with civil society, environmental, and human rights organizations worldwide, and adopting popular and institutional boycott policies as a form of peaceful resistance.
She concluded by stating that "silence in the face of this systematic plunder is implicit complicity, and defending the Sahrawi people’s economic and environmental rights is a collective responsibility that transcends regional boundaries."
In parallel, the Sahrawi Observatory has begun publishing sections of its 2025 report, titled "Sustainability for Whom? Renewable Energy and Environmental Justice Under Occupation," on its official website every Monday in a simplified format to make it accessible to all.
The report documents that the Moroccan occupation has intensified its exploitation of renewable energy in occupied Western Sahara to "tighten its colonial grip" and "legitimize" its occupation of the territory. It confirms that renewable energy projects are a direct continuation of the illegal exploitation of the occupied territory’s natural resources and calls for an immediate halt to all such projects, which are carried out without the Sahrawi people’s consent in blatant violation of international law.
Related blogs
