Western Sahara

News in Brief

Sahrawi human rights activist Aminatou Haidar announced on 10 March that the Moroccan authorities had “violently” crushed peaceful protests in Western Sahara on 8 and 9 March.
Human rights activists Ennaama Asfaria and Sabbar Brahim were among the “many” people who were injured in 9 March protest in Fajla protest. Later in March, a Sahrawi human rights campaigner was beaten by Moroccan police after giving an interview to the BBC.
Rachid Sghir told BBC TV: “We can’t campaign for independence openly. We can’t even raise the Sahrawi flag or talk about the history of the Sahrawi people.”
Elsewhere, German human rights activists fear that a giant Sahara solar power project, which could provide Europe with 15% of its electricity needs, will be located in Western Sahara. Desertec chief Paul von Son has stated that the pilot project would be located in a coastal area of Morocco.
As the coastal regions of Morocco are either heavily-developed or reserved for tourism, this seems to mean Western Sahara, which has been illegally occupied since 1975.

Topics: Western Sahara