London (United Kingdom), October 30, 2026 (SPS)– In a comprehensive investigative report released by the "Ethical Consumer" platform, light was shed on the grave violations and illegal practices committed by major international corporations through their cooperation with the Moroccan occupation authorities to exploit and plunder natural resources in the occupied territories of Western Sahara without the consent of its people, the Sahrawi people.
The report explained that the territory, which the UN has considered a Non-Self-Governing Territory since 1963 and which has suffered under Moroccan military occupation for over five decades, is undergoing a systematic depletion of its wealth across several vital sectors, including renewable energy, fisheries, phosphate extraction, agriculture, trade, as well as travel and tourism.
The report revealed that international airlines and booking companies, such as the low-cost carrier "Ryanair," deliberately mislead consumers by marketing flights to the occupied city of Dakhla in Western Sahara as part of Morocco, bypassing the territory's international legal status.
Solidarity and human rights organizations, such as the Western Sahara Campaign UK, have urged the public to submit formal complaints to advertising standards authorities against these practices that seek to legitimize the occupation and normalize violations, alongside the involvement of popular booking sites like "Booking.com" and "Expedia" in marketing tourist facilities in the occupied territories as being located in Morocco.
On the economic front, the report pointed to the involvement of major global companies in renewable energy projects constructed on occupied Sahrawi land, led by the German firm "Siemens," which supplies equipment to wind farms belonging to "Nareva," a company owned by the Moroccan royal palace, thereby circumventing judicial rulings affirming the illegality of these agreements in the absence of the Sahrawi people's consent.
The report also documented the continued depletion of vast fishery resources off the coast of Western Sahara, the transport of phosphate shipments extracted from the territory via international vessels for agricultural and industrial companies in India, New Zealand, and Japan, in addition to the export of agricultural produce (such as tomatoes and vegetables grown in the occupied territories) to European markets amid accusations against transnational corporations of bypassing rules of origin and misleadingly labeling goods as Moroccan.
This comprehensive report reaffirms the justice of the Sahrawi cause and the systematic piracy inflicted upon its resources in blatant violation of international law and human rights charters.
Amid the insistence of the Polisario Front, the sole and legitimate representative of the Sahrawi people, on rejecting any commercial agreements or contracts concluded with the Moroccan occupation targeting Sahrawi sovereign resources, the legal and rights-based battle led by solidarity activists and organizations monitoring the plunder of Western Sahara's resources continues to expose companies complicit in prolonging the occupation and plundering the wealth of future generations.
The "Ethical Consumer" platform is an independent research and advocacy organization based in the United Kingdom, aiming to guide consumers and institutions toward responsible purchasing by assessing more than 40,000 brands and products according to rigorous ethical and environmental standards.
The organization focuses on using purchasing power as a leverage tool for social change; it monitors corporate compliance with climate change and human rights issues and exposes their involvement in investments under oppressive regimes or occupied territories, while directing the public toward boycott actions and sustainable alternatives. (SPS)
090/500/60 (SPS)
To read the full report click on the title below:
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