On November 13th, 2020, , Morocco militarily intervened in the area of Guerguerat in the south-west corner of Western Sahara. Western Saharan rebels have subsequently launched attacks on Moroccan troops. According to Western Sahara Resource Watch and other NGOs, the root cause of the conflict lies in the trade road used by Moroccan authorities for the extraction and transport of goods from the area, in violation of Saharawi rights. The same sources report the Moroccan military forcibly reopened the trade route from Western Sahara to Mauritania, which had been blocked by Saharawi protesters since 20 October.

Western Sahara Resource Watch has called on foreign governments and companies to support the peace process by refraining from supporting Morocco’s baseless claims to the territory through trade that international courts find illegal. Members of the European Parliament have called for goods produced in the Saharawi Occupied Territories to stop entering the European market as certified by and produced in Morocco, against the Saharawi people's consent.

The rights group also suggests European companies such as Siemens or Enel should be wary of the heavy legal and moral risks of doing business with an illegal occupier.