Fertiliser producer Incitec Pivot Ltd. (ASX:IPL) is the
last Australian importer of rock phosphate from the disputed territory
of Western Sahara, a report has found.
In 2015, Incitec Pivot imported 63,000 tonnes of
phosphate worth US$7.48 million and constituting one third of its
superphosphate fertiliser mix.
These figures make Incitec Pivot the world’s sixth largest
importer of phosphates from Western Sahara, which is disputed between
Morocco and the indigenous-led Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR),
and accounts for almost three quarters of the world’s phosphate
reserves.
“We have been in touch with Incitec Pivot for many years
with letters explaining the issue to them and meeting them, but we
haven’t been successful in convincing them to end their illegal
exploitation of this resource,” said Kamal Fadel, Australian
representative of SADR’s governing party, the Polisario Front, and head
of the SADR Petroleum and Mining Authority.
The United Nations considers Western Sahara a Non-Self
Governing Territory after Morocco occupied much of the region from 1975
in the wake of a war triggered by Spain’s withdrawal from its former
colony. An independence referendum was requested by the UN before
Spain’s withdrawal, however attempts to hold a vote have stalled ever
since. This unresolved conflict gave rise to Western Sahara’s moniker of
“Africa’s last colony.”
As part of Morocco’s occupation, the country offered tax
breaks for citizens to relocate to what it calls its Southern Provinces,
where Moroccans now outnumber Saharawis two to one. Meanwhile, between
90,000 and 165,000 Saharawi refugees live in Polisario-run camps across
the border in Algeria. Western Sahara is currently divided by a 2,700 km
berm which separates the Moroccan-controlled territory and the SADR
territory.
The UN stated that “if further exploration and exploitation
activities were to proceed in disregard of the interests and wishes of
the people of Western Sahara, they would be in violation of the
international law principles applicable to mineral resource activities
in Non-Self-Governing Territories,” which pertains to meeting the needs
and interests of the native people and respecting their "permanent
sovereignty over natural resources.”
A vehicle carries
untreated phosphate after being dropped off on a mountain at a phosphate
mine at Bou Craa factory of the National Moroccan phosphate company
(OCP) situated in Western Sahara, 100 km southwest of the town of El
Aaiun (Laayoune) February 18, 2016.
Incitec Pivot says it has been advised its imports from the
Moroccan state-owned Bou Craa mine in Western Sahara do not violate
Australian or international law. It did not respond to repeated requests
for further comment.
A spokesperson for the Department of Foreign Affairs and
Trade noted that the government “does not ban the importation of
phosphates from Western Sahara, but encourages companies to seek
independent legal advice before proceeding with such imports.”
The two other Australian importers of phosphate from Western
Sahara, Wesfarmers (through its subsidiary CSBP) and Impact
Fertilisers, divested from the region in 2009 and 2012, respectively.
This was part of a larger global shift, with Fadel noting
“there is no doubt that our lobbying was part of it, but I think it was
also in part from international pressure from ethical groups and also
people who invest in these companies.”
The United Methodist Church, Denmark's largest bank Dankse
Bank, Norwegian financial services companies Storebrand and KLP, and
the Swedish and Luxembourgish national pension funds have all explicitly
blacklisted Incitec Pivot citing ethical concerns, while numerous other
investors have enacted blanket boycotts targeting all importers from
occupied Western Sahara.
The report, entitled P for Plunder and published in
April by the Western Sahara Resource Watch, calls for a cessation of
imports from occupied Western Sahara and for investors to divest if
companies do not.
Saharawi people protest exploratory drilling in Western Sahara by Irish oil company San Leon Energy in October, 2015.
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