“The indigenous Sahrawi people accuse the New Zealand fertiliser companies of helping prop up their oppression. In the same way that blood diamonds refer to precious stones mined to finance a warlord's activities, they say what is being mined in Western Sahara is rightly called ‘blood phosphate'.”

Dihani Mohamed, who lives in El-Aiun, told the ODT: “The complicity of the New Zealand government with the companies Ballance and Ravensdown and the silence of the New Zealand people is increasing the suffering of the Sahrawi people in the territories occupied by the Moroccans and in refugee camps.

In 2012, Ravensdown and Ballance were the two New Zealand companies of 15 companies, from 13 countries, buying Western Sahara phosphate. By the end of last year, the number of companies went down to four.  That includes Sinofert, a Chinese company importing small quantities, Paradeep, which is a subsidiary of Moroccan-owned OCP, and the two New Zealand companies, which are believed to have each imported between 215,000 and 228,000 tonnes of Western Sahara phosphate last year, worth a combined NZ$57 million. 

Ravensdown spokesman Gareth Richards says it is a complex geopolitical dispute that needs to be resolved at a government level via the UN.

Ballance spokesman David Glendining says his company's operations also meet UN requirements regarding non-self-governing territories.

The Business and Human Rights Resource Centre has approached Sinochem, and Ravensdown for responses. Ravensdown responded. Sinochem did not. We were unable to contact Ballance. Companies which did not respond are still invited to submit their responses.