'Blood Phosphate' at what cost? Part V - 'leaving it up to the market': February 26, 2020

Lillian Hanly is looking into the importing of what has been called 'blood phospate' from Western Sahara, occupied by Morocco. There have been four parts broadcast already, this is the fifth, where Lillian asks what the New Zealand government can to do step in. But, to recap a little:

Around 170,000 Saharawi people were forced out of their own land when Morocco invaded in 1975, today they live as refugees separated by a constructed wall and littered with mines. Western Sahara is rich in resources, and it is understood Morocco is taking advantage of this. One particular resource that is being mined without the consent of the Saharawi people is phosphate. Two of the three remaining companies in the world to buy this disputed phosphate from Morocco are NZ companies. Australia, Canada, America - all have pulled out of this trade in the hope that the referendum, called for in 1991, can take place. So the Saharawi people can choose their independence. 

First we heard from Tecber Ahmed Saleh, a Saharawi resistance spokesperson who was born in one of the longest-standing refugee camps in the world formed after Tecber's country was occupied. We learnt of a connection between a number of different things: Phosphate, Fertiliser, Farming, Western Sahara, Morocco, and New Zealand. To find out more about phosphate fertiliser in New Zealand, we spoke to one of the three remaining companies, Ballance Agri-Nutrients, to buy phosphate from the disputed trade with Morocco. Then, Lillian spoke with Kamal Fadel, who is based in Australia, and a spokesperson for Polisario Front - Western Sahara’s independence movement. They discussed the legality of Morocco's invasion and continued occupation and the rights that exist for non-self-governing territories. From there we heard from two people here in Aotearoa with solutions as to how we could use less phosphate - and therefore not rely on a trade that extracts the resource from a country where human rights abuses are taking place. Find the links to these podcasts below. Today, we hear from Golriz Ghahrarman on what the government can do to stop the trade, if that is possible, what their obligations are on the international stage and the environmental implications of the trade.

This is Part V in a series, you can listen to the others here:

Part I

Part II

Part III

Part IV