“The biggest poverty that exists in the world is to lose your territory; we are not in our land and others are taking advantage of our wealth,” (Mahmoud Dellal)
Crown Dependency News has this disturbing news story about the decision of a Manx based shipping company to suspend its operations shipping phosphate from Western Sahara. CDN says:
“LT Ugland shipping group of the Isle of Man announced that it will end its involvement in the trade of the phosphate rock of Western Sahara, illegally occupied by Morocco, according to the Western Sahara Resource Watch (WSRW).
The company LT Ugland, dependent on the United Kingdom, decided to end all its commercial activities relating to the phosphate of the occupied territories of Western Sahara. It was part of a list of “carriers of conflict,” recently published by WSRW on the companies involved in the illegal trade of Sahrawi resources.
On June 20, Lars T. Ugland, head of LT Ugland told the Norwegian economic newspaper Finansavisen that he will submit to the decision of the Court of the European Union, and “exclude Western Sahara from the zones of its activities, until the Sahrawi conflict is settled,” according to WSRW.
Last year WSRW underlined that the ship of the society Molly Manx carried about 54,000 tons of phosphate on behalf of New Zealand’s innovative fertilizer company Ravensdown. (SPS)”.
The interesting thing here is that the termination of this trade comes about because of adverse publicity caused by the WSRW revelations.
It proves that decades on from trading with Apartheid South Africa and the racist Rhodesian regime the Isle of Man is still engaged in exploitation in Africa. More recent scandals have included links to arms trading in Rwanda and South Sudan and the exploitation of minerals in the Congo.
The Isle of Man offers piece-meal aid through the front door while we continue to provide a base for international multinationals to steal from Africa via the back door!
Lets be clear the exploitation of these valuable deposits of phosphates is illegal Morocco’s occupation of Western Sahara is not recognised by the United Nations.
While western countries get rich on this trade many of the occupants of the Moroccan occupied territory are displaced and live in poverty in refugee camps.
Of course there is no mention of this sleazy business in the Manx media! Its time the Manx government kept a closer eye on its shipping register.
Links:
http://www.spsrasd.info/news/…/articles/2017/06/23/9385.html
https://www.scribd.com/…/3514377…/Carriers-Of-Conflict-2017…
Image: These Sahawri children at a refugee camp at Tindouf in Algeria face a bleak future as the West exploits their country
BERNARD MOFFATT
Public Relations Officer Mannin Branch
Issued by: The Mannin branch of the Celtic League.
24/06/17
