Brussels (Belgium), 6 November 2026 (SPS) – The Collective of Sahrawi Human Rights Defenders in Western Sahara (CODESA) denounced violations committed by the Moroccan occupation against Sahrawi civilians in the occupied territories during its participation in a seminar at the European Parliament in Brussels, stressing the need to respect the Sahrawi people's right to self-determination and independence.
The European Parliament hosted the seminar on Wednesday under the title “Plundering Sahrawi Natural Resources and Tourism under Occupation”, during which a report was presented examining developments in the occupied city of Dakhla and the implications of occupation-related projects for the legal status of Western Sahara and the rights of the Sahrawi people.
Speaking on behalf of CODESA, Sahrawi human rights defender Saddam Laktaif addressed the human rights, legal and political implications of tourism activities and economic investments in occupied Dakhla. He explained that promoting the city as an international tourist destination contributes to obscuring its status as part of a Non-Self-Governing Territory and normalising the Moroccan occupation, without regard for the rights and legitimate interests of the Sahrawi people.
He also highlighted the depletion of natural and water resources, the economic marginalisation of the Sahrawi people and demographic changes resulting from policies encouraging the settlement of Moroccan civilians in the occupied territory, warning of their implications for the Sahrawi people's inalienable right to self-determination.
The Sahrawi activist further denounced restrictions on fundamental freedoms, intensive surveillance and the blockade imposed on the territory, which prevent independent international observers and human rights organisations from accessing it. He also highlighted the continued detention of Sahrawi human rights defenders and political prisoners, including members of the Gdeim Izik prisoner group.
Concluding his intervention, Laktaif stressed that Dakhla is a Sahrawi city under Moroccan occupation and cannot be presented as a tourist destination detached from the reality of the occupation and the legal status of Western Sahara.
He also called for respect for the Sahrawi people's right to self-determination and independence, an end to the exploitation of their natural resources and the use of economic activities to consolidate the occupation, while emphasising the legal responsibilities of European companies and institutions towards the rights of the Sahrawi people.
Participants in the seminar called for the decolonisation of Western Sahara and the fulfilment of the Sahrawi people's right to self-determination, freedom and independence, warning of the implications of the continued conflict for regional security and stability.
The seminar was organised by the European Parliament's Intergroup for Western Sahara in coordination with the Sahrawi Committee responsible for natural resources and legal affairs, with the participation of parliamentarians, lawyers and international law experts.
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