“To persist with a trade agreement which undermines the rights of the Saharawis would be a shameful betrayal of principle of international solidarity which has been at the heart of Labour for more than a century.”
By Ken Richie, Western Sahara Campaign
Many questions are being asked about the strength of Labour’s commitment to international law in the face of atrocities in the Middle East. This month, however, a court ruling from Brussel raises questions about the legality of policies our government has inherited from its Conservative predecessor – and, indeed, about whether a commitment to international solidarity is still a central pillar of Labour’s foreign policy.
Much of Western Sahara has been forcibly occupied by Morocco since its brutal invasion of 1975. In spite of the condemnation of the International Court of Justice and numerous UN resolutions, Morocco has maintained its grip of Western Sahara and its resources, repressing any Saharawi voices calling for even a referendum on self-determination. In the assessment of Freedom House, the international organisation which monitors human rights worldwide, the Saharawis living under occupation have fewer civil and political rights than people in Iran or Afghanistan.
When the UK was still part of the EU, the Western Sahara Campaign sought a judicial review of a trade agreement with Morocco which allowed Morocco to exploit the resources of Western Sahara and sell the produce to the UK on preferential terms. A concern was that enabling Morocco to profit from an illegal occupation was effectively condoning it, making a just settlement of the conflict even more difficult to achieve.
As the trade agreement was between the EU and Morocco, the case was referred to the EU Court of Justice (CJEU) which ruled that Western Sahara was not part of Morocco and the agreement was therefore unlawful: this position was then accepted by the High Court in the UK[JB1] . In response, the EU sought ways around the CJEU’s decision, leading to further legal challenges and an appeal by the EU against its own Court’s judgement. This month, however, the CJEU dismissed the EU’s appeal, ruling that the its deal with Morocco was incompatible with international law because of its application to Western Sahara.
This may not appear to be a British concern – we have, after all, left the EU and its rules no longer apply to us. But it’s not that simple: following Brexit, the UK frantically tried to make its own trading arrangements, and what it negotiated with Morocco was more or less a copy of the EU-Morocco agreement. As a result, the UK now has a trade agreement with Morocco which the highest court in the EU considers to be illegal. With a former Director Public Prosecutions as Prime Minister and a barrister as Foreign Secretary, this is surely not something that the UK government can ignore.
The argument, however, is not just a legal one. In the earlier years of Morocco’s occupation, the Saharawis received strong support from Labour politicians including Fenner Brockway, Alf Lomas, Peter Hain, Harriet Harman, Michael Meacher, Neil and Glenys Kinnock and Gerald Kaufman, and support for the Saharawis’ right of self-determination has been Labour policy for decades. To persist with a trade agreement which undermines the rights of the Saharawis would be a shameful betrayal of principle of international solidarity which has been at the heart of Labour for more than a century.
- Ken Richie is a founding member of the Western Sahara Campaign and currently serves as the Treasurer and as a committee member of the campaign.
- You can follow the Western Sahara Campaign on Facebook, Twitter/X and Instagram.
