With the signing of two large contracts last week between international oil companies [Kerr McGee and TotalFinaElf] and the Moroccan government to explore promising oil fields off the coast of Moroccan-occupied Western Sahara increases, international protests are being voiced...Richard Stanforth, spokesperson of the Western Sahara Campaign UK, however comments that in signing the contracts the companies are "trampling over the basic Human Rights of the Sahrawi people. The contracts are an attempt to legitimise the brutal Moroccan occupation of Western Sahara" "Most Sahrawi people from Western Sahara are languishing in refugee camps struggling to survive. They will not see a penny of this money. All this money will go to help Morocco build up its army in Western Sahara."...According to information gathered by UK Western Sahara Campaign, previous attempts to explore Western Sahara oil resources have all been abandoned due to the political risks.