Saharawien Basiri Mulay El-hasan er født og oppvokst i de saharawiske flyktningleirene. Familien hans flyktet fra hjemlandet da Marokko i strid med FN-resolusjoner og den Internasjonale domstolen i Haag rykket inn i Vest-Sahara, og bombet tettstedene i landet med napalm og klasebomber.

Nå har Basiri et års pause fra flyktninglivet, og studerer ved skolen Red Cross Uniter World Colleges på Fjaler, på Vestlandet.

20. januar reiste han til Oslo for å overlevere et brev til selskapet Fugro-Geoteam, som leter etter olje for Marokko. Letingen foregår i hjemlandet hans, Vest-Sahara, som fortsatt er under marokkansk okkupasjon. Det saharawiske folket krever Fugro-Geoteam pakker sammen og reiser ut av landet.

Den norske profiteringen på okkupasjonen skjer i strid med folkeretten, og i strid med den norske regjeringens råd.

Brevet han overleverte til Fugro-Geoteam er sendt på vegne av de 200 elevene på skolen Red Cross Nordic United World Colleges, en skole støttet av Røde Kors og norske myndigheter. Skolens elever er mellom 16 og 19 år, fra over 80 land.

Her er brevet:


CEO, Hans Ivar Meyer
Fugro Geoteam
Hoffsveien 1C
0275 Oslo
Norway

Withdraw from the Occupied Areas of Western-Sahara!

Flekke, 20th of January, 2008

We, the students of Red Cross Nordic United World College, decided to write this open letter to Fugro-Geoteam. Our school is an international school with students from 80 different countries, including the Saharawi refugee camps in Algeria. We would like to express our disappointment towards Fugro-Geoteam and demand that your company immediately withdraw your vessel “Geo Caribbean” from the occupied waters in Western Sahara.

Western Sahara is today the last unresolved colonial issue in Africa. The area is a former Spanish colony and was relinquished in 1975 with a promise that a referendum on self determination for the Saharawi people would be held. That promise was not kept. Instead Morocco invaded the territory of Western Sahara, forcing the Saharawi people to flee from their homeland. Many of the Saharawi were killed, wounded and disappeared in the desert because of this brutal invasion. Today many Saharawis are living in refugee camps in the Sahara Desert in the southern parts of Algeria. This is one of the world’s most inhospitable places.

On the 27th of February 1976, Polisario Front, recognised by the UN as the only representative body of the Saharawi people, declared the Saharawi Arabic Democratic Republic (SADR). Today SADR is recognized by more than 80 countries all over the world.

The fact that Fugro-Geoteam is searching for oil off the shores of occupied Western Sahara is against all international law. According to a legal opinion by the UN under-secretary general for legal affairs in 2002, it is not legal for Morocco to continue the oil search in Western Sahara if the Sahrawis object to it. We see no evidence that Fugro-Geoteam has consulted with the Sahrawi people prior to entering the territory, which according to the International Court of Justice belongs to the Sahrawi people.

After it was revealed in 2005 that the American company called Kerr-McGee, which Norway had invested money in, had been searching for oil off the shores of Western Sahara, Norway withdrew its investments. Per Kristian Foss, who at that time was the financial minister in Norway, stated that Kerr-McGee’s actions were a severe violation of fundamental ethical norms. It is therefore especially disappointing to see that a new, Norwegian company is involved in this kind of trade.

The students of Red Cross Nordic United World College therefore demand that Fugro- Geoteam immediately stop searching for oil and withdraw from Western Sahara.

Sincerely yours,

The students of Red Cross Nordic United World College.