Nikolaj Nielsen

This is a story that is over 30 years in the making. It begins in the barren deserts of the Western Sahara and stretches into a stalemate between the Sahrawi people and the Kingdom of Morocco.

Eritrea’s ambassador to the European Union, Girma Asmerom, was conspicuously absent. The Europe External Policy Advisors’ moderator had assured everyone that the invite was sent.

Two years ago singer–songwriter and activist Bob Geldof was so excited about biofuels he even became the special advisor to biomass company Helius. At the time, Geldof visited jatropha curcas plantations in Swaziland run by UK biodiesel producer D1 Oils.

A row of Moroccan flags, firmly embedded in a concrete wall too tall to scale, align a compound that has no political will and surround a United Nations mission that has no human rights mandate.