Fertiliser firms selling out refugees
"The next mouthful of food you take after you read this may have an awful
aftertaste. That's not necessarily because there's anything wrong with
your
food, but because of how it gets to your plate." Opinion in The Australian
Financial Review, by Polisario's Australia representative, Mr. Kamal
Fadel.
Australia Financial Review
25 March 2008
In Australia, three companies control the superphosphate market. The
largest
is Incitec Pivot, which has about 65 per cent of the market. CSBP, owned
by
Wesfarmers, and Impact control the remainder.
According to a statement in 2007 from Incitec Pivot, "Without rock from
Western Sahara, it is unlikely that Australian manufacturers could produce
the 1 million tonnes of single superphosphate farmers require each year."
The trouble is. Western Sahara gets none of the benefit of this trade.
Since
1975 the region, home to a distinct indigenous population known as
Sahrawis,
has become an illegal annex of Morocco. The kingdom has ensured the
Sahrawis
remain under its control, deprived of their basic liberties and freedoms.
Some 165,000 Sahrawi refugees are stranded in the desert. Many haven't
been
able to go home for more than three decades.
UN resolutions come and go, confirming the right of Sahrawis to
self-determination, and countless official admonitions emerge and fade
away
like mirages. Over 80 countries recognise Western Sahara as an independent
entity and it is a member of the African Union No country recognises
Morocco's occupation.
The spotlight was cast on Western Sahara again last week, but another
round
of talks between Sahrawis and Morocco ended in stalemate.
Despite widespread condemnation of Morocco's occupation and brief
news-cycle
flurries, the world has learnt how to ignore Western Sahara
But not the superphosphate industry. It has been pumping funds into the
pockets of the Moroccan royal family and depriving impoverished Sahrawis
of
their rightful return on resources.
Various international legal pillars refer directly to Western Sahara's
status as a non-self-governing territory. Legal opinion is mounting that
Morocco's exploitation of Sahrawi resources, and the subsequent im****t of
those resources, would fail the test of international jurisprudence.
The Australian government has offered only a limp response to the immoral
phosphate im****t trade.
But businesses and investors overseas have been less forgiving. Swedish
and
Norwegian companies have already left the sector, dumping shares in
Wesfarmers late last year.
Also, in 2006, various oil and gas companies signed contracts with the
secessionist Western Sahara government in relation to various exploration
and extraction rights. The crux of these agreements is that, when Sahrawis
are given a vote on their independence, these companies will gain
exclusive
commercial rights.
It's a case of betting not on the winning horse, but on the right horse.
The
Australian superphosphate industry might take a leaf from this book and
the
federal government should be looking into ensuring a similarly more
sustainable approach
All Australians - shareholders, voters and consumers - have a duty in
ensuring that the unappetising story of Western Sahara's illegal
exploitation is ended.
Kamal Fadel is the Australian representative for Polisario, the
independence
movement for Western Sahara.
See the opinion piece in PDF here.
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Source: http://www.wsrw.org/index.php?parse_news=single&cat=105&art=690
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See also:
* AWSA Press Release: Ali the camel to attend Bendigo Bank AGM, Jan 24
2008
* Weekly Times (AU): Incitec defends im****t policies, Dec 31, 2007
* Sydney Morning Herald: Incitec optimistic about outlook (but faces
shareholder criticism over WS phoshates), Dec 20, 2007
* Sydney Morning Herald: Making a meal of human rights (Australian im****ts
of WS phosphates), Dec 20, 2007
* Press release: Wesfarmers (AU) blacklisted for trade in stolen
phosphate,
Dec 4, 2007
* AWSA letter to UN Sec.Gen. Ban Ki Moon, Mar 26, 2007
*Green Left Weekly: Stop phosphate trade with Morocco!, Jan 14, 2007
* The Weekly Times (AU): Activists speak out over fertiliser, saying
Im****ts
'breach' UN law, Jun 27, 2006
__________________________________________________________________
Forwarded by:
Norwegian Sup****t Committee for Western Sahara
*** Referendum now! ***
www.vest-sahara.no
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Sahara-update
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