AFAPREDESA
The Association for the Families of Saharawi Prisoners and the Disappeared
Western Sahara – A Mine Field
Selfa Artic, a company specializing in coastal fishing boats, stopped
their work after three years in Western Sahara. – The fact that we felt
insecure was one contributing factor, tells Director Erik Ianssen to the
magazine Fiskaren. Owner of Sjøvik AS Odd Kjetil Sjøvik currently
faces
severe criticism with regard to the fishing by his ship “Midøy Viking”,
outside the Moroccan occupied area.
Fiskaren, Norway. 18 April 2006, by Helge Arild Bolstad
Boat constructor Erik Ianssen established his business over four years
ago, and is familiar with the situation. -We had already been informed
by
the Norwegian Foreign Ministry about the conflict. But, we had no idea
of
how bad it really was; no idea about the ongoing street fights between
the
liberation movement Polisario and Moroccan armed forces. We were
constantly monitored by Moroccan authorities who tried to tone down the
situation as far as they could. But naturally, repeated street riots
cannot be hidden. I admit that, from time to time, I would fear for the
safety of the ten employees at the shipbuilding yard, says Ianssen. Yet
there were other reasons why they decided to leave, notes the director.
Actually, it is more correct to say they have put the business on hold.
He
further reports that: if the contending parts reach a peace agreement
it
might be relevant to take up the business.
Foreign Ministry out of touch with the real situation
Western Sahara has been in a state of war since 1976 as it became occupied
even before it had the time to gain independence from the Spanish colonial
power. This was early noted by Ianssen and the others. Beforehand, they
had been told by the Norwegian Foreign Ministry that Norway advices
against entering the area if the purpose is extraction of natural
resources, such as fish and oil. On the other hand, the Foreign Ministry
said that since people could benefit from a ship yard, the establishment
of a boat-building’s yard was in order.
Erik Ianssen believes the Foreign Ministry didn’t grasp the gravity
of the
conflict four years ago, nor to which extent the situation was inflamed.
The change in the Foreign Ministry came about after a television broadcast
by the NRK*-series “Brennpunkt”, which put the conflict in
the limelight,
as well as the Norwegian ambassador’s attitude in regard to the
latter.
Until then, the Foreign Ministry had closed its eyes to Western Sahara,
according to Ianssen.
Since Erik Ianssen has been involved in the issue of Western Sahara,
the
fishing by the EU has constituted a major source of irritation, as have
Western oil interests. As today, the Foreign Ministry and a majority
of
the Norwegian population should recognize that Western Sahara is a war
zone, and not only a disputed land, opines Ianssen. Therefore he was
astonished that Sjøvik AS is now starting to fish in the area. – Any
Norwegian company wishing to fish in Western Sahara, must be rather blind
if he doesn’t see the mine field ahead, asserts Erik Ianssen.
*Norwegian National Broadcasting
(Translation by The Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara)
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Source: http://www.fiskaren.no/incoming/article104235.ece