Al-Shahid Al-Hafiz, June 6, 2026 (SPS) – The Sahrawi Observatory for Monitoring Natural Resources and Environmental Protection (SONREP) affirmed, on the occasion of World Environment Day, that achieving true environmental justice in Western Sahara cannot be separated from the inalienable right of the Sahrawi people to self-determination and to exercise full sovereignty over their natural resources.
The Observatory explained, in a publication published on its official website on this occasion, that the celebration of World Environment Day comes in light of the increasing environmental challenges witnessed by the occupied Sahrawi cities, as a result of what it described as “intensive and continuous exploitation” of natural land and marine resources by the Moroccan occupation, in the absence of the consent of the Sahrawi people and their exclusion from participation in making decisions related to their wealth and the future of their lands.
In the context of its efforts to draw the attention of the international community to this issue, the Observatory highlighted its participation this week in two prominent international symposiums, the first of which was hosted by the Spanish capital, Madrid, under the title “Land Resistances and Other Justices for the Sustainability of Life,” with the participation of representatives of peoples and communities from the global South, who discussed issues of environmental racism, environmental colonialism, and excessive extraction of natural resources.
The Observatory also participated in the first European Forum for Environmental Human Rights Defenders, which was held at the Council of Europe in the city of Strasbourg, and brought together an elite group of activists, legal experts, and environmental defenders from around the world.
The Observatory indicated that, during these two events, it was able to convey the voice of the Sahrawi people and present the reality of the land and people in the occupied parts of Western Sahara, asking the participants “the meaning of environmental justice when the resources of an entire people are exploited without their consent and under the weight of occupation.”
He added that the discussions in Madrid and Strasbourg showed the intersection of peoples’ struggles to protect the land, environment and natural resources, stressing that communities affected by the unfair exploitation of resources share common demands based on accountability, transparency and justice.
The Sahrawi Observatory reiterated that environmental protection is inseparable from the human rights system, and that environmental rights lose their essence when the Sahrawi people are deprived of their right to manage their resources and participate in making decisions related to them, stressing that the struggle of the Sahrawi people to protect their environment falls within a broader global movement to defend the rights of peoples, lands, and the future of future generations.
At the conclusion of its statement, the Sahrawi Observatory for Natural Resources Monitoring and Environmental Protection renewed its commitment to continue monitoring and documenting environmental violations linked to what it described as the systematic Moroccan plunder of natural resources in Western Sahara, in addition to enhancing awareness and building bridges of solidarity with movements and environmental defenders across the world. (SPA)
