Madrid, 17 March 2025 (SPS) - Spanish Member of the European Parliament (MEP) Ana Miranda, from the Galician Nationalist Bloc (BNG), condemned on Monday Morocco's expulsion of a delegation of Spanish jurists from occupied Western Sahara, as they were preparing to investigate the human rights situation in this non-self-governing territory.
"Total condemnation of this expulsion by Morocco of (members of) the International Association of Jurists for Western Sahara," she wrote in a message posted on social media, denouncing Rabat's "impunity" and the "silence" maintained by Spain, the administering power of this territory under international law.
"Morocco cannot continue with this impunity, and the Spanish state cannot remain silent," she lamented.
Indeed, this expulsion is the latest in a series of bans imposed on foreign observers and journalists attempting to enter Sahrawi territory, which has been under military and media blockade since its invasion by Morocco in 1975.
On March 2, Morocco expelled an official from the Spanish General Confederation of Labor (CGT) from Dakhla, another city in occupied Western Sahara.
A few days earlier, three MEPs were denied access to the occupied city of El Aaiun. These included Spanish MEP Isabel Serra Sanchez from the Podemos party, Finnish MEP Teusi Saramo from the Vasemmistoliitto party, and Portuguese MEP Catarina Martins from the Bloco de Esquerda party, who had been invited by the Collective of Sahrawi Human Rights Defenders in Western Sahara (CODESA).
Upon arrival from the Canary Islands, they were prevented from disembarking the plane to carry out their planned inspection visit to the occupied part of Western Sahara.
Basque parliamentarians were also barred in January from traveling to Western Sahara, where they intended to gather information on the human rights situation in the occupied territories.
In February, journalist Francisco Carrion from “El Independiente” faced the same treatment from the Moroccan occupier.
According to figures from human rights protection and Sahrawi solidarity associations, since 2014, Morocco has denied access to or expelled at least 320 journalists, legal professionals, and human rights activists from occupied Western Sahara for attempting to investigate violations of international humanitarian law.
Moreover, a working group established in response to the repressive measures observed in occupied Western Sahara following Morocco's breach of the ceasefire in November 2020 has described the territory as a "black hole of information."
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