London, April 8, 2013 (SPS) - Western Sahara Resource Watch (WSRW) has denounced on its website, the depletion of underground water reserves of occupied Western Sahara by the Moroccan agricultural industry.
According to what has been published on the website of the NGO, owners of large agricultural plantations surrounding the city of Dakhla have resorted to drilling water wells threatening the underground water basins.
The non-renewable water resources in the Morocco-occupied territory of Western Sahara could potentially be emptied at the point when the conflict is solved, said the NGO.
The organization accused the agro-industry near the town of Dakhla of violating laws governing the use of underground water, adding that local witnesses said that a number of farm owners are drilling water wells without possessing the necessary licenses allowing them to do so.
To recall, the plundering of Western Sahara natural resources is regularly denounced inside the United Kingdom by several associations of human rights.
Recently, the representative of Organization Western Sahara Campaign, an activist for the Saharawi cause Tom O'bryan said that plundering of Western Sahara natural resources was a “hindrance to the peace process in the region.”
In addition, four major Swedish food chains decided in February to stop marketing products from occupied Western Sahara.
Distribution channels, namely Axfood, Coop, ICA and Bergendahls have expressed concerns about the risks of the violation of international law in purchasing the goods bearing the label “made in Morocco”, as they are in fact originate from the occupied Western Sahara.
Western Sahara has been considered by the UN as a non-autonomous territory since 1964. It is the last colony in Africa which has been under Moroccan colonial domain, supported by France. (SPS)
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