Brussels, January 13, 2018 (SPS) – Saharawis reaffirmed their firm rejection of the proposal to extend tariff preferences to products originating in occupied Western Sahara in the framework of the EU-Morocco association agreement, and expressed their "deep concern" regarding the discussions initiated in this direction within the European Commission
In a letter recently sent to the European Commissioner for Economic Affairs, the French Socialist Pierre Moscovici, representatives of Sahrawi civil society in the territories occupied by Morocco, in the Tindouf refugee camps and the Saharawi diaspora reaffirmed " their categorical refusal to extend tariff preferences to products originating in occupied Western Sahara "within the framework of the EU / Morocco Association Agreement.
They also reject the "discussions conducted in this context by the European External Action Service and the European Commission for Economic Affairs".
The Saharawis also expressed in their message their "deep concern" about these discussions during a gathering of Saharawi NGOs held in recent days before the Commission and the European Council in Brussels, and their "firm opposition" to everything agreement with Morocco including occupied Western Sahara
But the European Commission is "deaf ear" to the legitimate claims of the Saharawi people "in violation of the code of good administrative behavior" of the European Commission, denounce the Saharawi in the missive, sent in the perspective of the vote scheduled on 19 January at the European Parliament level on the draft EU-Morocco agreement to extend tariff preferences to products originating in occupied Western Sahara. (SPS)
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